A Girl Named Hero, a Time Lord Called Doctor
by SilverTortoise
Summary: Part 1/4 of the TIME GIRL SERIES - U.S. college student Hero Smith gets taken on an adventure by the Doctor after she saves his life. She tries to remember how she recognizes his voice. Will she truly be able to save him in the end? 11th Doctor/OC. COMPLETE! Sequels available!
1. Aliens with Guns

Welcome, my fellow Whovians, to my newest fanfic! Please read, enjoy, review, rinse, repeat...

Will be rated M in later chapters, but it will be non-explicit... This is about love, people! ;)

Note: This story takes place in AU (alternate universe), and River Song does not exist. Why? Because she and the Doctor are so perfect together I couldn't break them up! Spoilers! )

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the characters I mention from the show. I do, however, own my OC Hero Smith and _wish_ that I owned Matt Smith... oh, never mind...

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><p>The December wind blew cold against my face as I walked across campus. The large, grassy quad area was empty for the most part; everyone was either already home in warm comfort or taking final exams. My shoulders protested against the weight of my large book bag and purse, but soon all those silly texts would be sold back to the bookstore and I'd be free for five weeks…<p>

Just as I was beginning to contemplate the value of a hot cup of tea, there was a familiar shout behind me and the sounds of a girl freaking out. Whirling around, adrenaline took over my body as I surveyed an odd scene; a girl with ginger hair was running as hard as she could, hand in hand with a spiky-haired man in weird overalls. Closing in on them, no _passing_ them, pulling them along, was another taller man, who besides being dressed in a brown suit was sporting a bow tie and wild, curly hair. I heard him shout again, urging the other two on, and I could hear the fear in his voice. The ginger girl was just starting to scream, "_Where__in__the__hell__are__we?_" when my entire body froze as my brain sluggishly realized why the tall man with crazy hair had sounded so familiar.

_No… It can't be… _

The man shouted back to the woman, "I have absolutely no idea -" but I couldn't catch what he said because at that moment their pursuer swung around the corner of a nearby building. I saw the dark figure, but the trio had their backs to where I was looking and had slowed down to catch their breath. I was still standing frozen in place, barely able to comprehend what I was seeing. The figure chasing them had a long, dark, craggy face and was looked like talons instead of the usual fingernails. He (it?) was also holding what was clearly some sort of weapon, and he paused when he caught sight of the trio behind me, his thin lips curling back to reveal… fangs. _Shit__…_

The man-creature thing began to advance towards me, and I backed away from him when I realized that I was now between him and his prize. But his gaze wasn't on me, exactly, but on the three people who were still facing away. _Why__the__hell__can__they__not__see__him?__It?_ I backed away more, until I was only about 15 feet away from the trio, and then I heard the girl with ginger hair mutter, "Um… Doctor?" I turned sideways to look from the trio to the slowly advancing creature and back again, my widened eyes trying to take in everything at once. The tall man looked past me to where I was retreating, squinting like he was trying to see something. I realized with shock that none of them could see the creature who was now raising his weapon slowly, his teeth bared, his feet making no noise on the ground.

I was so intent on the creature that I didn't hear the three people coming up behind me until the tall man spoke directly in my ear. His voice was still oh so familiar, but I jerked in surprise just the same as he murmured, "_What __do __you __see?_"

The creature was now only about ten feet away, his eyes gleaming, and I opened my mouth but no sound came out as the thing raised its weapon triumphantly…

_Shit! __Shit shit shit shit shit shit_… I dove without thinking towards the creature as it prepared to fire at the man behind me. The ginger girl screamed and I could hear several footsteps lunging after me, trying to grab me, but I couldn't stop as I sort of exploded at the creature, who stared at me in obvious surprise as it pulled the trigger on its weapon, as I stumbled literally into it, knocking it on the ground in front of me as it snarled. There was a small explosion in front of me and I was momentarily blinded. Closing my eyes briefly, I opened them to find myself lying on my back on the leaf-strewn grass. The trio stood over me, looking alternately between me and the creature lying nearby, and the man in overalls moved towards the creature holding a rope. I blinked; my vision was going foggy, and I tried to rise but found I couldn't do more than lift my head. The wind was suddenly silent.

_What the hell…_

The tall, crazy-looking man was kneeling down next to me, his large boyish eyes full of concern. It seemed like he was moving in slow motion, his lips forming impossibly slow, silent words as the ginger girl leaned over me as well. A sudden fear took me, and in spite of myself I looked down at myself. There was a tear in the front of my shirt, over my heart, and on the exposed skin of my upper chest… I shuddered back suddenly as the pain of my wound overwhelmed me and I let my head fall back into the waiting darkness.


	2. Aliens with Time Machines

Whispers surrounded me as I lay in complete darkness, my heart beating steadily in my ears as I reached out in both directions. A dull throbbing in my chest reminded me that I was hurt, and when I tried to sit up I found I couldn't; I was strapped down to the firm surface on which I was lying, wrapped in some sort of soft material that felt warm against my skin. Thankful that my arms were free, however, I continued to reach out on each side into the blackness when suddenly I could hear someone rushing towards me, murmuring "no no no no no" to himself. Hands took hold of my forearms, gently replacing them back to my sides. Alarmed, I started to struggle against the person. Quite suddenly, the man fumbled at my face and I realized that I'd been wearing some sort of mask which had shielded my vision. I jerked back as I was momentarily blinded by a light burning directly overhead. I made some inarticulate sounds of fear before jerking my hands from the stranger's grasp. This proved to be a mistake; pain ripped across my chest as I moved, making me fall back with a faint cry, my eyes squeezed shut against the light.

"Oh goodness…" the man murmured, patting my shoulders carefully, "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry…"

This reaction was not at all what I'd expected, and I found myself opening my eyes slowly, still squinting against the glare.

"Erm…" The light was moved aside, followed by more of the same "sorry, sorry, so sorry…"

As my eyes adjusted, I found myself staring into the face of the spiky-haired man from before, the one wearing overalls, except now he was dressed respectably in a sweater and jeans. He continued to pat me as if unsure of what to do next, but before I could speak there was a clatter nearby and I heard the ginger girl speak.

"Oi, Rory, you're scarin' her, you lout!" The girl's decidedly Scottish accent matched her ginger hair, now once more in my view, and she looked indignantly at her male companion (apparently a person called "Rory") with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. Turning to me, she promptly began to loosen the straps holding me down as I stared at her speechlessly.

"I'm Amy," she continued, gently tugging one stubborn buckle aside, freeing my left leg, "and this is my husband… Rory… Sorry he scared ya before…" Here the young man shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

"I'm a nurse, see," he added, as the ginger Amy continued to release me by degrees, "You needed treatment and kept thrashing about… I'm sorry, but I had to strap you down so you wouldn't hurt yourself."

As the last strap fell away, Amy looked at me gently. "Better, then?" I nodded, grateful to be free once more.

"Where am I?" I couldn't keep the shakiness out of my voice.

The other two glanced at each other, then back to me. After a moment Amy smiled sweetly, slipping an arm beneath me and raising me into a sitting position on the edge of the table. "We're not really the best people to tell ya, love, let's wait until the Doctor gets back, okay?"

"…Doctor?"

Amy frowned slightly in thought before replying, "Not really a Doctor, not in the conventional sense, mind you…" She straightened the soft material around me which turned out to be a robe. "We're supposed to patch you up while he deals with that… Well, the man who was chasing us…" She faded off, smiling at me. "So what's your name, then?"

I paused a moment before replying, "Um, Hero. Hero Smith."

"Nice name," she replied, patting my knee. The sound of a door closing somewhere nearby made me turn nervously, and she repeated her smile with a gentle, "It's all gonna be alright, okay?"

I met her eyes, not sure what to think, but I recognized that she seemed to be telling the truth, so I nodded. Satisfied, she turned away from me and moved to the door of room, stuck out her head, and shouted, "Doctor! If you please!"

There was a rather loud crash from outside the door, and Amy giggled silently at Rory who had moved to my side in what I interpreted as a protective gesture. A moment later I heard that same familiar voice from before, saying, "Ah, that's where that thingamabob got to!" and the tall, slender mad in the mad bow tie hurtled into the room clutching a large flowerpot. He came to a screeching halt directly in front of me, and I was unsure whether to draw back or laugh.

He regarded me silently for a moment, long enough for me to take in his red suspenders, boyish grin, and lanky body. He looked like a jigsaw of a person that somehow, once put together, all made sense.

"Well then…" he said, carefully setting the flowerpot on the floor and taking a step towards me. He held out his hands in a peaceful gesture, tilting his head to one side as he looked at me, "Hello!" he crowed, smiling broadly, "So who are you, exactly?"

"Hero…" I managed, my eyes wide.

"You most certainly are," he went on, "that was some pretty heroic stuff you pulled back there, have I thanked you yet? No? Well, then thanks a lot, you really did me a huge favor back there!"

"No, I mean…" I stammered, "my _name_ is Hero."

The man paused, slightly embarrassed at his misunderstanding, his grin fading slightly as he regarded me.

"Ah, yes… My mistake. Well, suits you, doesn't it?" His grin returned, I couldn't help but smile back at him very shyly.

"So!" he continued, turning to his companions, "Hero the hero, you're probably wondering where you are, am I right? Yes, well, you're going to be surprised, but you've earned it." Turning back to me he gently took hold of my upper arm and helped me to stand. He regarded me carefully to make sure I was comfortable before putting his arm against my back and slowly steering me from the room.

We came out into a very large, brightly lit room, at the center of which was a circular board of hundreds of gleaming buttons, levers, wires, and so many other things that I could hardly recognize, _Is __that __a __phone?_, and this platform was surrounded on the walls by pillars and lights… In all, it looked kind of like a control room, a very odd control room at that…

The man beside me, this doctor, was looking around just like I was with a look of interest on his boyish face as if he, too, was seeing the room for the first time. I didn't quite know what to make of him yet; he seemed like part-child, part-man, part… something else.

"Now, this isn't the fun bit, that part's over here," he said, interrupting my thoughts, and he began to lead me towards some small double doors on the other side of the control panel. Amy and Rory were walking behind us, both smiling like they were excited for something.

"It's… very nice," I said, letting myself be steered and wondering what sort of place this was. We approached the doors, and he pushed one open, gesturing for me to go out. After a second I complied, finding myself standing on a lonely mountainside. There was a warm breeze blowing against my face and I could hear a bird chirping somewhere nearby.

"Where…" I began, turning back to face the man, and froze when I saw what it was I had come out of. Standing before me was a bright blue police box, like one of those one sees sometimes in old movies. It seemed to be only about four feet across on each side, and it was sitting on the grass of the hill on which I stood. I gaped at it for a moment, unsure of what I was really seeing. Looking around wildly, I saw at the base of the hill my school, far far away. At least that look familiar. Turning back to the police box, I could see the man and Amy and Rory all looking out at me, grinning widely. Slowly I reached out a hand and let my fingers drag across the blue painted wood sides of the box. It felt real to my touch. Then I moved around it in a matter of seconds, not letting my fingers leave the sides, measuring it with my eyes.

It was so… _small._

So what had I seen inside?

Not really knowing why I didn't run away then and there, I turned back to the three people looking at me and moved towards them. They parted for me to pass, and I walked back inside and was once more greeted with the same, very _large_ control room. There was silence as I stared around breathlessly, glancing out the door to reassure myself that the same grass and air was indeed still there. It was.

"What is it?" I squeaked, staring at the tall man. He smiled at me very kindly, talking a step towards the control panels and spreading his arms to indicate the room before answering,

"It's a TARDIS."

"Excuse me, what?" I stammered.

The man looked like he got this question asked every day as he rattled off, "Time And Relative Dimension In Space. TARDIS." He rocked back and forth on his heels in obvious delight as I continued to gape around me.

"It's…" My voice cracked slightly, "It's bigger on the inside…"

"Yes!" the man cried joyfully, pointing at me and smiling like I'd won some sort of guessing game. "But, more importantly," he went on, "it's a time machine."

I blinked. "What?"

"And a space ship. Well, it's mostly a time machine, good at traveling through time, space as well…" He was rambling, and I was shaking slightly. "I'm the Doctor," he finished, nodding his head at me slightly, "I fly the TARDIS."

"…F-Fly?"

"Of course! Amy, Rory, want to go for a spin?"

The other two people in the room looked at me, and Amy patted my arm soothingly as Rory said, quietly, "You can say no, alright?"

My mouth opened before I could stop it, I was so curious about how I knew the wild-haired man, the Doctor, wanted to know how I could know his voice so well, and I heard myself gasp "yes."

The Doctor winked at me before spinning around to face the console in the center of the… TARDIS. He began pushing buttons, pulling levers, moving around and around the center of the room as lights began to flash, machine parts began to move, and I could feel the whole room shuddering under my feet and realized that we were moving.

And thus began a new chapter in my life.

My new life on the TARDIS.

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><p>And so it begins! *scary music* But really, if you likey, please review! I enjoy getting feedback of all sorts :)<p> 


	3. The Last of His Kind

Another chapter! This one's a little short, sorry about that, but I wanted to keep it coming :)

I still don't own Doctor Who... or Amy, or Rory, or the TARDIS... or Matt Smith... *sniff*

Please read, enjoy, and review!

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><p>My first few hours of time travel went by in a blur of color and sound. The Doctor wanted me to get a taste for what the TARDIS could do, apparently, since the stops we made included:<p>

- The fall of Rome (that one was an accident; in his initial excitement of having someone new traveling with him he had pushed an extra button too many. We left in exactly 17 seconds.)

- A distant ice moon, inhabited by small, fluffy ice bunnies. With teeth. Time spent here: five minutes plus the extra three for Amy's trip to the infirmary for a band aid.)

- The view of the Great Wall of China as it was being built (we watched this for nearly twenty minutes.)

- The edge of a comet that was racing past a ringed planet (I nearly passed out when I peeked out of the TARDIS doorway at this fantastic sight.)

After a couple of hours of this, and of Amy and Rory recounting a few of their own not-so-glamorous adventures, I was beginning to be completely overwhelmed when the Doctor parked us in the middle of a vast meadow complete with poppies, giant mushrooms, and butterflies. Rainbow butterflies. Yeah.

Taking a careful step outside, I slowly sank down into the soft grass beside the TARDIS, breathing deeply and simply gazing up into the sky. The air was full of light, but I couldn't seem to find a sun anywhere. Confused, I turned to the Doctor who had just plopped himself down beside me, and he seemed to read my thoughts:

"This planet hardly ever faces its sun," he murmured, "The air is full of microscopic organisms, way way up, that glow to create all this light."

My mouth continued to hang open slightly for a moment before I closed it, embarrassed. Yet taking a sideways glance at the Doctor and his two companions, I recognized the same look of wonder on their faces as was on mine. How many things had they seen, how many worlds, and yet they could be awed by this one planet?

Amy and Rory stepped away from the Doctor and me, apparently picking flowers or trying to catch butterflies or something.

I lay back against the grass with a sigh, closing my eyes in comfort. All of this was nearly too much to take in, the idea that one could travel through not just vast distances of space but also through time... was mind-boggling.

"What if this is a dream?"

I hadn't realized that I would say this out loud until I did, and my eyes flew open to see the Doctor looking at me.

The Doctor followed my example, laying back in the grass at apparent ease. "If you can't trust your senses, what can you trust?" he replied, looking up into the sky, "I suppose it is often what we take in that is the most likely to be wrong, but how else can we go about life other than... feeling it?" He eyes grew distant and dark as he gazed upwards and I realized for the first time that he was much older than he looked, much _much_ older.

"I hope you don't think I'm being rude, but..." I swallowed before continuing, "I know that Rory and Amy are from England, and that they're married, and that you whisked them away from home a few days ago for a "vacation"... But, I honestly still don't know who or what you are."

He kept his eyes fixed upwards, towards the light, and waited a few moments before speaking.

"I'm a Time Lord," he replied, "the last of my kind. An alien race. Does that scare you?" For the first time in a few minutes he glanced over at me and I held his gaze.

"Not really, not when I've seen all that I've seen today."

He nodded absently, turning his gaze skyward once more. There was a warm, gentle breeze winding through the grass, caressing my face.

"I travel in the TARDIS," he continued, "because it's what I was _meant_ to do. I'm a wanderer." He looked almost sad as he said this, and I got the feeling, suddenly, that even with his friends by his side he was still lonely. "My purpose so far has been to protect the people of earth, but I haven't always done the best job... But I can't turn away from it, though, it's who I am."

"Who are you?" I whispered, and he sighed.

"The Doctor," he replied, "just... the Doctor."

And that's the most I found out about him for quite some time.


	4. Fish Fingers and Time Machine Lovin'

The butterfly meadow planet was certainly not our final stop of the day. I experienced several more infinitely diverse worlds before the day was done. Perhaps the most remarkable memory I have of the next couple hours was this one huge city-planet, complete with Star Wars-esque sky cars and floating skyscrapers. Indeed, everything we saw that first day was fantastic, beautiful, everything I could wish for space and time travel to be. I wished later, much later, that the Doctor had perhaps showed me some of the more serious things throughout the universe, though I understand now that he was just being kind to me.

After a whirlwind day of having a Time Lord prove to me that time travel is possible, I was grateful when Amy and Rory gave the Doctor stern looks and ordered him to set the TARDIS on auto pilot.

"Doctor, I know you're having fun, but Hero is probably freakin' out a bit, okay?" Amy said, gently guiding me towards another hallway that opened off of the control room. I couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that someone could understand the insane jumble of feelings I was experiencing right now.

"Yeah, and plus, as her nurse, I say we need to not stress her out too much, yeah?" Rory added, looking seriously at the Doctor, raising his eyebrows.

Looking a bit like a child who's had his lollipop taken away too early, the Doctor nodded, pushing a couple of buttons on the console next to him. There was a soft whooshing sound as, I assume, the TARDIS settled into a peaceful auto pilot trajectory. The Doctor turned back to face Amy and I who had reached the far doorway which led into the rest of the time machine.

"Ooh! I'll make supper, then, shall I?" the Doctor cried, grinning broadly and dashing past the two of us girls. Apparently he was very easily distracted from any reluctance he may have felt from being told play time was over. Behind me I heard a distinct groan from Rory.

"Oh God..." Amy muttered, though I could tell she was trying to hold back a smile, watching the Doctor's back retreat up the passageway and out of sight.

"So, um..." I began, letting the two of them lead me along; I really had no idea where to go from here. "Is he a bad cook or something?"

Amy chuckled darkly, but it was Rory who answered, apparently trying to be diplomatic, "Well, he's just... very enthusiastic..."

Not at all encouraged, I giggled and tried to imagine what the Doctor could possibly consider a decent meal. Some sort of alien soup? Bugs that were still wiggling? Weird purple mushrooms? As we walked I continued to smile, looking around the hallway as we passed many doors, branching staircases, and other halls that opened off of our own.

"This place really is huge, isn't it?" I commented.

"Yup," Amy replied, glancing at me as we walked, "and the strange thing about it is she's always changin'... One day, you'll think you know your way to the loo, the next you'll end up in the broom cupboard or something else batty."

"I'm sorry... _she_?"

"Right, should have explained that... The TARDIS' mind, sort of, once got pushed out of her housing and into this... woman, this one time in a corner of the universe. Really weird." I nodded, trying to wrap my mind around this interesting story. "Anyway," Amy went on, "she eventually got back into her... machine mind, I suppose, and we've never really spoken directly to her since. Still," she added as we turned a corner into what looked like the largest industrial kitchen I had ever seen, "It was pretty interesting while it was going on, I mean..." She lowered her voice, glancing around to make sure the Doctor wasn't in sight before continuing, "_He_ had a bit of a... _thing_... for the TARDIS woman." I choked back an incredulous laugh, and Rory smirked knowingly.

"So, uh, the Doctor has a thing for his lady time machine?" I joked, quirking my lips to one side, "and now she can't talk to him, but he walks around... _inside her_?"

"That's about the size of it," Rory muttered.

"So to speak..."Amy quipped, and all three of us burst out laughing. Moving through the massive kitchen, we were still laughing a bit when we entered a dining area. Our laughter died quickly for a moment when we were greeted by the Doctor, dressed in a frilly white apron, grinning from ear to ear as he waved from across a large table.

"Custard!" he crowed, gesturing broadly to several very large bowls of a yellow-ish, pudding substance. "Aaaand the best part," he went on, flourishing a large fluffy towel over one arm, "fish fingers!" There were platters and platters of these seafood creations.

"Again?" Amy said exasperatingly, pulling out a chair, "Oh, sweetie..."

"How did he get all this ready so fast?" I whispered to Rory, who shrugged, apparently as confused as I.


	5. Tea and Telephones

The TARDIS made me my own bedroom. At least, that's what Rory said as he and Amy opened a large wooden door into a large, beautiful master suite.

"We've never seen this room before, so..." Rory said, gesturing me inside, "for you."

I felt incredible warmth welling up inside me as I looked, around, because everything about this room said "me" everywhere; the colors (green and white), the decorations (glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling like I'd always wanted since I was a little girl), even the bathroom (a large soaking tub with several delicious-looking scents of bubble bath). Rather speechless, I turned back to Amy and Rory and they smiled back; they probably knew exactly what I was feeling.

"Now, bed," Amy said, shooing me further into the room like a mother hen.

"Let me check your bandage, Hero," Rory added, assuming a professional air and moving closer to examine my covered wound. I had barely felt a twinge all day since the Doctor had started taking me around in the TARDIS.

"You're a good nurse, Rory," I said as he peeked at the wound, blinking in surprise as he did so.

"You're... a good patient, apparently," he stammered, and Amy leaned in to look as well. As awkward as it was to have two people both attempting to get a closer look at my chest, I felt no pain as Rory gently removed the bandage. I glanced down at myself.

Where my wound had been, all that remained was the pinkness of new skin. Apparently it had somehow healed over in one day. I lightly brushed a fingertip across the area; it was a bit sensitive, being new, but otherwise felt perfectly fine.

"And your shoulder?" Rory asked, taking hold of my arm and slowly rolling my shoulder blade around as he spoke.

"Fine," I said, feeling a bit surprised at myself.

"So, erm, do you always heal up so fast?" asked Amy.

"I... wouldn't really know..." I replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable, "I've never been really badly hurt before, just the usual bumps and bruises. They usually fade pretty quickly..."

"Hmm..." was her only comment, and then she looked up with a smile. "Well, it looks great, yeah Rory?"

The nurse nodded, releasing my arm and adjusting my shirt in a professional manner.

"Well, goodnighty night, then, Hero," Amy continued, patting my on the other shoulder. Rory smiled at me, and the two of them began to turn towards the door.

"Wait... um..."

They turned back in sync.

"Sorry, but... what was that... _alien_... that was chasing you? I mean, I had no idea there were aliens at my school," I said lightly, trying to play it off.

"Well, according to the Doctor," Rory replied, "we apparently _trespassed_ in some way."

"On _my school_?"

"Yeah, your school has some pretty tough protectors," Amy giggled.

"But..." I went on, "then that would explain why he never looked at me, he was only interested in chasing you away.

"Yup, it was hard to run away, he had a perception field," Rory put in, folding his arms across his chest. Amy nodded, quickly adding,

"An energy shield, makes things invisible or look different."

I nodded, trying to understand.

"So... none of you could see him?"

"Well, I couldn't," Rory answered, "Not sure about the Doctor, though..."

_But I could see him..._ Now I had even more questions, and I wasn't sure that Amy and Rory, lovely couple though they were, could really answer them.

"Alrighty then," I said aloud, smiling politely, "I'm really tired... should probably get some sleep..."

"O' course," Amy smiled, and the two of the them left the room, closing the door behind them carefully.

Leaving me alone with some very confusing thoughts.

xoxoxoxoxox

My bed, comfortable as it was, couldn't seem to lull me off to sleep in the way my body wanted. I tossed and turned in the soft sheets for nearly an hour before giving up. Rising, I walked over to the large corner wardrobe, selecting a nice soft bathrobe to go over my pajamas.

"Thanks..." I whispered to the room. _Did I just talk to the TARDIS?_ I chucked to myself, then returned to the task at hand. I needed something to make my mind realize that it was time for sleep. Not being able to think of anything else, I decided to leave my room and explore a bit. Of course, the idea had occurred to me that I could get lost, so I chose to first head back to the main control room to make sure I could find my way back.

Slowly I padded down the long hallway, taking my time as I glanced back and forth at the side rooms, hallways, staircases, ladders leading into the ceiling... _Oh goodness..._

I had reached the entrance to the control room and was momentarily startled to see that the doors of the TARDIS were open. It wasn't so much the fact that they were open that surprised me, but what we were apparently flying past; a swirl of glowing particles and distant stars shown outside. _A nebula... oh my god..._ Even from across the room, the little part of it that I could see was breathtaking. I had to see more.

Edging around the center console, I stopped dead when I was able to see the entire doorway. The Doctor was sitting on the floor, his legs evidently dangling out of the TARDIS ad into space. For a moment I stayed very still. I could see part of his face, and he was gazing out into space with an almost... tired... expression on his face. I examined his face for a moment; yes, it looked young, like he was only a year or so older than I, but as I looked at his eyes and where his gaze was staring out into the stars I again got that feeling that he was really much older than he looked... _much_ older...

I jumped as he spoke, "I'm sorry you can't sleep, Hero Smith."

Realizing that I had no need to hide anymore, I slowly made my way over to him until we were only a few feet apart. He kept his eyes on the stars as he went on, "Would you like some herbal tea? I find that sometimes herbal tea is just the thing for falling asleep."

"Um, sure, thanks..." I replied, staring at his feet. They really did look like they were dangling out into space, and I found myself opening my mouth the speak and then not having any good words. The Doctor took his eyes away from the nebula and looked up at me.

"The force field extends out a bit," he said, nodding to the doors, "keeps us in and all that..."

"...Oh," I said, super intelligently, and I looked back at the shimmering lights outside. It was, truly, the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

"You're probably wondering why you could see the alien," the Doctor murmured, and I jumped, tearing my eyes away from the view in space and looking back at him in surprise, "Amy came and mentioned to me that you'd asked about the alien, that you seemed worried. I just guessed from there. I am right?"

I nodded, biting my lip.

"Don't worry," he went on, slowly getting to his feet so that he wouldn't have to keep looking up at me from an odd angle, "I could see him too. It just means that you aren't fooled by perception filters. Some human can see right through them, you see."

I nodded again, feeling myself relax a little.

The Doctor straightened his bow tie, taking one last look out of the TARDIS doors before pulling them shut.

"Can you not sleep either?" I asked, looking for something to talk about with him.

"Oh, that... Time Lords don't sleep very much, really, just a couple of hours here and there and we're fine." He smiled boyishly at me, and again I was struck by the age I could read in his eyes.

"Cool," I managed, inwardly cringing at how this man could make me into a monosyllabic dolt. I could feeling myself beginning to blush and was grateful that the light was fairly dim. What the hell was _wrong_ with me?

"Tea, yes?" the Doctor said, turning towards the TARDIS console and opening a cupboard underneath it. He drew out a tea bag and mug. "My secret stash," he explained, fiddling around more underneath all the buttons on the console. He straightened up a moment later and I was shocked to see that the mug was now filled with steaming hot water.

"Tadaaa!" the Doctor cried, handing me the warm mug. _How many things does he keep under there, I wonder?_

"Thanks..." I murmured, taking a careful sip. The soft taste of herbs and perhaps of a little peppermint suffused my mouth and felt nice running down my throat. I nodded to indicate that I liked it, and he grinned.

"Good, well then," he began, but was cut off by a jarring ringing sound right next to us. We both jumped, but he recovered much more quickly than I and smoothly picked up... the phone I had seen earlier. Judging by the expression on his face, the Doctor was not used to getting calls but was excited all the same.

"Yes?" he said into the receiver, ducking his head slightly like a girl getting her first call from a boy she likes, "Oh really?" He went on, and I wondered who he could be talking to. He remained silent for a couple of minutes while I sipped on my tea. "Not to worry, we'll be there," he said, then crashed the receiver down on the console at me and began pushing the buttons again.

"What's up?" I asked, holding the warm mug to me.

The Doctor grinning, pulled a couple of important looking levers, then replied, "Something... _cool._"

I smiled in spite of myself.


	6. Space Flight and Flashy Surprises

Well, here we are again, everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Although the first five chapters were mostly fluff, I admit, this chapter is bound to be much more exciting... Stuff's gonna happen! Anyway, please read and review, and GERONIMO! :)

Disclaimer: I _still_ do not own "Doctor Who," the characters of the Doctor, Amy, or Rory, or the TARDIS, or the sonic screwdriver, or...

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><p>The "something cool" turned out to be... wait for it... on the other side of the universe. So I figured that it would take a little while to get there once the Doctor had finished plotting in the coordinates to wherever-it-was. The TARDIS shuddered, making a loud roaring noise, and I could feel us turn slightly.<p>

"You may want to -" the Doctor began, but his words were cut off as we banked slightly and then went into what felt like a free fall. A free fall with... twists. With a small yelp I clung to a nearby railing, my eyes widening as the TARDIS seemed to crash on faster and faster.

"Super sonic space travel!" the Doctor cried over the roar and whine of the engines, "Nothing like it! Ha Ha!" He whooped, grinning hugely. I had attached myself as firmly as possible to the railing but felt my grip slowly slipping with each passing jolt and shudder of the TARDIS. There were a couple of seconds where the ride smoothed out a little, deceptively so, and I made the unfortunate mistake of letting my fingers slacken a bit. I quickly regretted this a moment later when the sky seemed to drop out from beneath us and we tumbled downwards. Losing my hold completely, I found myself careening across the console area with a stifled yell, holding my arms out to stop myself.

Before I could meet with the opposite wall, however, I was saved from a certain painful death by a long arm that seemed to shoot out of nowhere. The Doctor scooped me back to his side of the railing, laughing, his lanky arm wrapped securely around my waist to keep me from falling. I had no choice but to hang on to the front of his jacket, praying that we didn't both go flying. Another jolt later (one which bent me over backwards with the Doctor still hanging on, my weight pulling him into a sort of awkward crouched position), the TARDIS came to an abrupt halt. The Doctor's mop of hair was nearly touching my forehead, and I'm sure that one of my legs was wrapped around his ankle in what was sure to be a compromising position.

"What the _bloody_ hell..." came Amy's voice from the hallway. She and Rory stumbled into the control room, still in their night clothes, just in time to see me half-bent to the floor with the Doctor clinging to my waist and hunched over me like we were in the midst of some odd tango move. Amy and Rory stopped abruptly, their mouths opening slightly at the sight of us. I blushed furiously, hastily attempting to pull myself upright and to straighten my bathrobe, which was now in some..._ disarray_. The Doctor, however, seemed rather oblivious, _big surprise, Hero, _and he neatly pulled me to my feet like a ballerina and grinned at the other two humans.

"Ah!" he cried, reaching up a hand to straighten his bow tie, which was askew, "We've arrived!"

"Well, you should let us get dressed first," Amy retorted in a rather grumpy voice. I would find out later that she and Rory had been rather rudely awakened by finding themselves not in their comfy bed (like they would expect during a normal night's sleep) but rather squashed onto the floor with all the blankets on top of them.

"Right!Sorry..." the Doctor replied, waving Amy and Rory away, "See you in a moment, then..."

They trotted back the way they had come, Rory yawning hugely.

"Um, I'll just go... change..." I mumbled, taking a step towards where I remembered my bedroom to be and finding myself unable to move. The Doctor's arm was still around my waist.

"Oh, um..." I managed, feeling my face burn.

He looked puzzled for a moment, then comically looked down at his own arm, like he had forgotten where he had left it. His eyes widened and he quickly removed himself from me, stepping back, clearing his throat.

"Ah! Erm, sorry," he said, a bit flustered, "forgot... Glad you didn't take a tumble..." He smiled awkwardly at me, and I waved him off, trying to look casual.

"'S okay," I answered, trying not to look down at my feet, "I'll just go change then, hmm?" He nodded, his eyes looking a bit preoccupied, smiling politely like he was now clearly thinking of something else. I hurried away as quickly as I could without (I hoped) looking like I was _running_ or anything. My heart was skittering all over the place, something it didn't do very often.

_Hero? Seriously. Act your age! _

_Why does he make it so hard?_

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><p>A few moments later, Amy and Rory and I had reconvened in the control room. The Doctor had remained where he was, closely examining a television screen.<p>

"Alright, then, what's this all about?" Amy barked, apparently still a bit put off at being tossed out of bed in the middle of the night. _Though, to be fair, who really knows what time it actually is..._

"Well," the doctor began, rubbing his hands together eagerly, "an old friend of mine... a very old friend... is in a bit of trouble. Apparently, his people have been disappearing, and he suspects... Well, he needs a Doctor to sort it all out," He smiled broadly, pleased with himself.

"His _people_?" Rory asked.

"Yes, well, he's a bit of a king... sort of thing..." The Doctor cleared his throat as if he didn't think it was his place to be more specific.

Suppressing a reluctant smile, Amy sighed and said, "Alright, you win, so are we there? At his... kingdom? Planet thing?"

The Doctor nodded, spinning in a circle to face the door, "Lardis Prime, fifth planet from a _very_ interesting star..." He moved off towards the TARDIS doors, continuing to chatter, but I lost track of what he was saying as I caught Amy's eye. She smirked, shrugged, then shuffled off after the Time Lord. I stifled a giggle and Rory coughed loudly as we followed her out of the TARDIS.

We stepped out into a darkened cave.

"Hmm..." the Doctor commented, taking out his sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket and taking a reading. He flipped it open, scanning the results with his eyes. After a moment, he frowned, staring at the readings.

"A bit... quiet around here, yeah?" Amy whispered, staying rather close to Rory. I peered out into the darkness, trying to see past the light coming from the TARDIS door, but there was really nothing to see except fading blackness. Puzzled, I was just about to say something when the Doctor shushed us.

"_But we're not making any noise!_"Amy whispered, appalled, but was quickly cut off as Rory placed a hand over her mouth, his eyes widening.

I realized that both the Doctor and Rory were aware of something, a sound, and I strained my ears in an attempt to pick anything up. After a moment, I realized that there was a deep sort of _thrumming_ somewhere, almost a movement more than a sound, coming from the blackness around us. We stood frozen, our eyes darting back and forth from one to another, listening to the faint, deep sound.

"_**DOCTOR...**_"

We all jumped visibly as a loud, metallic voice crashed onto our ears from directly overhead.

"**_YOU'RE SLIGHTLY LATE, DOCTOR,_**" the voice continued, and the Doctor quickly scanned the air again with his sonic screwdriver. He looked bewildered at the results and drew near us, leaning in and whispering in the softest voice possible,

"_We should leave... now..._"

We all nodded vigorously, and the Doctor gestured that I go in first. I began to slowly back towards the TARDIS doors, trying to look inconspicuous, when without warning a beam of blue-white light appeared just over the doctor, illuminating him. Alarmed, Amy dashed towards the Time Lord and as soon as her fingertips brushed against the light she was thrown back onto the ground. She cried out, landing hard on her back and quickly scrambling up again as Rory rushed to her.

"Wait!" the Doctor cried, looking around wildly. The sonic screwdriver was still clutched in his hand, his free hand feeling around what I now realized was some sort of force field. "What do you want?" he continued, still feeling around for an escape route.

"_**IT'S SIMPLE, REALLY, TIME LORD,**_" the weird mechanical voice boomed, and there was a strange rushing sound somewhere overhead, "**_CENTERIES AGO YOU TOOK US FROM OUR NATURAL HOME. WE WERE ALONE, TRAPPED ON AN ALIEN WORLD. YOU DID THIS TO US. NOW WE MUST FEED OFF THE PEOPLE OF OTHER RACES TO SURVIVE. WE ARE STILL ALONE. YOU WILL LEARN, DOCTOR, WHAT IT MEANS TO BE ALONE_.**"

Amy, Rory, and I watched in horror as the light surrounding the Doctor began to throb and brighten. He looked out at us helplessly, calling, "It's going to be alright, just... try to get away! You have to run, you hear me?" Amy shook her head at him, fighting tears. Rory seemed to be holding her back to keep her from rushing at the light prison again. The light surrounding the Doctor was now so bright it nearly obscured him, but I could still see his face as he turned from Amy and Rory over to me. I stood frozen against the TARDIS, unable to process what was happening. The rushing sound overhead had grown to a roar, and I saw the Doctor mouth "_Hero_," his eyes wide and pleading. I reached towards him from where I stood, crying out his name, and then his face was completely obscured from view. All three of us hastily shut our eyes and flinched away as the light exploded towards us with a thunderous roar.

And then there was complete, utter silence.

And darkness.

The sonic screwdriver lay upon the ground, faintly illuminated by the lights inside the TARDIS. The ground around it was smoking slightly.

The Doctor had vanished along with the light.


	7. Secrets and Caves

This is a bit of a weird chapter, just a heads up... I needed to provide a link between the last scene and the one that will follow. Hope you're still enjoying my wild adventure with the Doctor!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Doctor Who or Matt Smith... sad face :( lol

Please read and review!

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><p>"Oh my God it's happened again, this can't be happening again..." Amy moaned, turning and rushing back into the TARDIS at full tilt. Rory and I ran in after her. I could barely catch my breath, the Doctor has <em>gone,<em> he had just _disappeared_...

"What the hell do you mean, this has happened before?" I cried, slamming the doors shut behind me and charging up to the console.

"He's always disappearing, damn him..." Amy replied, pulling a scanner towards her and peering at it, "Yup, he's completely gone, clean off the sensors..." Rory swore quietly, clenching his jaw.

"But I don't get it," I said, pacing back and forth, "who the hell was that voice? And what could the Doctor have possibly done to make them hate him so much? The Doctor is... is... he's not..." I found that I couldn't really make myself say what I really felt about the Doctor, those words were much too personal and emotional to let out at this tense moment.

"The Doctor, he sort of... has a history of pissing off the bad guys," Rory explained, pacing as well, "He may have a lot of friends around the universe, but he's also got just as many enemies."

"We could fly the TARDIS to him," Amy interjected, still looking at the scans closely, "See if we can get to him, rescue him." I nodded, stopping to look at her. Her face looked set, determined.

"What do we do?" I asked.

A few moments later, Amy and I were spinning back and forth around around the TARDIS console just like I'd seen the Doctor do so many times, frantically trying to get something, _anything_, to happen. Rory kept alternating between helping (if you call randomly pulling levers helpful) and trying to stop us.

"_This... has... to... work...!_" Amy seethed, tears in her eyes, slamming her fist against a flashing button. I bit my lip, jerking a knob back and forth as nothing happened; the TARDIS remained dark and silent. Pausing for a moment, I closed my eyes, breathing quickly, trying to take it all in. _The Doctor is gone..._

"_DAMN _it!" Amy cried, stopping her desperate actions, leaning against Rory who slipped a comforting arm around her. I clenched my hands in front of me, thinking fast.

"Look, we just need to... has he... maybe if we just found out where we are..."

Amy released herself from Rory, running over to the door of the TARDIS. Sticking out her head, she yelled, "Oi! You! Where are you? Answer me, damn it!" Silence was her only answer, as Rory and I

joined her at the doorway, looking out into the dark cave. Amy subsided into silence, leaning heavily against the frame.

We stayed there, for a moment, when suddenly a shout echoed in the distance of the cave. We all jumped, squinting into the blackness. After a moment I gasped as a figure came into view, limping towards us. A man... by the looks of it...

"Who... who are you?" I called, unable to keep my voice steady. The figure paused, then continued towards us. After a moment I could see that it _was_ a man, a man with green skin...

"Hello..." he said, pausing just within the light from the TARDIS, "I'm... Damon. I'm here to help."

"Excuse me, what?" Rory interrupted, frowning slightly.

"I'm Damon, this is, _was_, my planet. I believe you got my message?"

Suddenly it all clicked.

"You called us!" I cried, stepping out of the TARDIS towards the green man, "you called on the TARDIS phone..."

Damon nodded, looking gravely at the three of us.

"Now, indeed, it's been a while, I'll grant you that, but... Always got a new face, which one of you is, pardon me, the Doctor?"

There was a silence as Amy, Rory, and I all exchanged sad glances.

"Um, he's not here, thought wouldn't you know that?" Rory replied. I couldn't help but glare slightly at the green-skinned man before us, feeling that this was somehow his fault.

"I... beg your pardon?" Damon murmured, moving closer. His brow was furrowed as he regarded us closely, "it's not like the Doctor to keep himself hidden, is he quite alright?"

I sighed. "He got...taken... when we first got here. Didn't you see? There was a huge, metal voice talking, saying he'd be alone now or something..." I trailed off, unable to speak any more.

Damon now looked truly horrified. "Oh, by the gods I am sorry... I couldn't have gotten here any sooner, what with our security, I'm so so dreadfully sorry!"

Amy was glaring at the floor in silence, Rory biting his lip.

"So, um..." I began, trying to keep my voice steady, "do you know where the doctor has been taken?"

Damon paused and sighed, "Let's not speak of it here. Follow me, I'll take you below to our holdings where we can speak openly..."

He turned and began to move away from us, still limping.

The three of us sort of gaped at one another for a moment, unsure whether to follow the green alien or not.

Amy reached into her pants pocket, pulling out a small shiny object. "Spare TARDIS key, she murmured, her voice full of emotion, and she swiftly pulled the doors shut behind us, locking us out. The three of us turned and began to follow Damon's retreating back, deeper and deeper into the darkening cave.


	8. Answers and Honor Wars

It seemed like a long time to be walking with a distant TARDIS behind us, fading away in the deep blackness of this vast cave until it was just a speck. I kept glancing back it every few minutes, and I caught both Amy and Rory doing the same thing. Damon limped on ahead of us, his bare, green feet barely making a sound on the smooth stone floor. I could hear water dripping somewhere.

All at once, we stopped. Damon crouched down a little, and I realized that we'd come to a high wall. It seemed colder and damper in the cave than ever. The green alien moved one slender hand across the surface of the rock. I blinked as a faint echo of red light passed over the rock just where his hand had been. The light was hardly anything to worry about, however, as more interesting things began to happen; there was a faint clicking noise and a small door seemed to sink open in the wall, creating an even deeper shadow. Damon gestured to us to follow, then disappeared into the wall. After a moment, Amy crouched down and followed the alien. Rory nodded to me to go next. I also found that I had to bend slightly to fit into the opening. It was pitch black. Raising my hands cautiously in front of me, I shuffled forward, Rory right behind me. There was another click as the door slid shut behind him.

I experienced a momentary wave of panic as I contemplated our current position trapped inside a wall. Trying to steady my breathing, I swore quietly under by breath and continued forward, feeling along the invisible walls on either side.

"Okay, Amy?" Rory asked from behind me.

"Uh huh," she replied several feet ahead of me. I quickened my pace slightly before gasping as I gently bumped into her. We'd stopped. Rory must have heard our soft collision since he didn't crash into me, just stood with his hand on my shoulder to keep track of me. I could feel him fumbling for Amy.

"One moment," Damon called ahead of us, and there was a scratching noise, "Let me open the inner door, it's all right..."

After a moment, he added, "You may want to close your eyes for a moment..."

Hastily I shut my eyes, and just in time; a blaze of light straight ahead illuminated our narrow passage. My eyelids glowed red and I slowly inched them open, trying to see ahead of me.

Another door had opened, and this was where the light was coming from.

"This way," Damon continued. His eyes seemed to have adjusted much quicker than ours; the three of us stumbled forward, blinking and squinting against the glare. We arrived in a large cavern, one that seemed much like the one with the TARDIS, but this one was full of light. There were small camps set up everywhere, metal cans with fire burning in them, laundry hanging out, people... aliens like Damon. I hadn't had the experience of being in a _group_ of aliens before, and I paused a moment, staring around me. Amy and Rory, however, seemed more comfortable with the situation, and the strode forward.

"This way," Damon said, gesturing us toward the nearest set of small tents. These seemed unoccupied for the moment, though there was a fire burning here with a tea kettle (of sorts) beside it. "Please, take a seat, I will explain everything," he continued.

There were some sort of low stools handy, so we each took one and slowly sat. Damon followed suit.

He regarded us silently for one moment before speaking again.

"So... You three are companions of the Doctor. And he is missing." We nodded. "I'm am terribly sorry, again, that I couldn't be there to step in," he continued, "You see, we are at war on this planet." This seemed fairly obvious to me, considering all the sneaking around in the darkness and all that.

"So, do you know where we might find him?" Amy asked, leaning forward, "the Doctor?"

"Not precisely, no," Damon replied, looking sadly at the three of us, "You see, I'm unsure what exactly he has done to insult our... enemy... so I can't be certain how they will imprison him."

"Imprison?" Rory coughed, looking stricken.

"Indeed, that is their usual way. Usually following up with some sort of ritual death or something. Which may not occur!" he hastily added as Amy and I both made gaspy sounds. _The Doctor... killed..._ It was too horrid to think about.

"There may be a way," Damon went on, quietly, "to rescue him... but they won't see it that way. You see, our enemy, the DakTar, they're a highly ritualized species, relying on the give and take of honor and ceremony. This is why even the smallest of offenses can upset them. The Doctor is most likely innocent of any crime according to our laws, but the DakTar consider any sort of slight an act of war. _Personal_ war."

Damon paused to let this sink in.

"So... sorry, but... Why are the... DakTar... at war with _you_?" I asked.

"Ah..." he replied, folding his hands together, "ours is a strange form of war. You see, lately the DakTar have been weak... They require energy and supplies to survive. They came upon our world many seasons ago, seeking amounts we could not possibly give. They saw this as an act of war against them, us denying them assistance, so they felt justified in settling over us, taking supplies and members of our people as they saw fit. Justice, you see, for our sin of greed."

We thought about this a moment, then Damon continued, "There are some of their people who will speak with me, provided I give them something in return. Perhaps... we could arrange for a ceremony to release the Doctor, to grant him a pardon. If such a thing is possible. It may yet be impossible, or the challenge set to free him may be the end of you all."

"We have to try!" I burst out, unable to hide the emotion in my voice. The others looked at me. I lowered my voice, "I-I mean... I only just met the Doctor yesterday... or maybe it's been longer, it's hard to tell with him, but I've learned already that we can't just leave without having tried... We need him."

"She's right," Rory added, "The universe needs the Doctor, so if there's a chance we can save him, I think he'll be able to work out the other details later after we do what we can."

Amy nodded, her face pale. I met her eyes briefly, recognizing the same pain I felt burning inside me in her eyes.

"Very well," Damon said, stretching his hands before him, "In the next turn I shall see what can be done. Also, please... forgive me if they do not even wish to speak with me. I shall gather what I can... I owe this much and more for my friend." he paused, looking each of us in the eyes. His eyes met mine last, and lingered, his deep green irises glinting in the firelight. "You are... _all_... good friends of the Doctor, I'm sure he will feel our attempts in spirit. Come, let me arrange food and beds for the three of you... The dark time is still upon us."

Realizing that he meant that it was night, I followed him and the two others as we rose and moved toward the nearest tent.

I closed my eyes briefly before entering, wishing I could reach out and find the Doctor with my mind, anything. _Come on, you floppy-haired idiot, where the hell are you..._ I jumped slightly as I felt something brush against my mind, like the touch of a feather, then the sensation quickly faded as I heard Rory calling my name. Frowning slightly, I shook my head and stooped into the tent.


	9. The Rescue Begins

It's about to get freaky! ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own this. Except Hero. Oh and the DakTar. and Damon...

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><p>Several long hours drifted by, and Amy, Rory, and I sat inside the tent trying not to look each other in the eye. I kept running my mind over and over the moment when the Doctor was taken from us, when the light flashed painfully bright and he mouthed my name. I felt like there was a weight resting in the pit of my stomach, achy and sad. I had only known the Doctor for a brief amount of time, yet I couldn't help feeling like I'd known him longer, like I'd known him my whole life... He meant a lot to me, but I couldn't put my finger on the reason. It was a fact that I couldn't deny, but also one that I could not explain.<p>

Thoroughly depressed, I leaned back against a barrel, letting my eyelids swing shut. I found myself picturing the Doctor. He was smirking at me, his mop of brown hair scattered across his forehead, his hazel eyes twinkling. He held out his arm like he did when I went flying across the TARDIS on our space flight, and I remembered what it felt like when he still clung to me, totally forgetting his arm around my waist. I pictured him dressed in a ridiculous frilly apron, passing me the fish fingers and chattering about a day he once spent on a beach planet.

I hadn't really had a good night's sleep since my last sleep in my own house, on Earth, before final exams. I felt exhausted. This was becoming a little too much. Opening my eyes, I glanced over at Amy and Rory. They had drifted off to sleep, leaning sweetly against one another. They seemed peaceful enough in sleep, though I knew they were probably worse off than I at the Doctor's absence. I sighed quietly to myself, settling down further onto the smooth floor of the tent. Perhaps it would be daylight soon so that we could learn more about what had happened to the Doctor. Maybe Damon would return soon with good news. Maybe...

In spite of myself, I drifted off the sleep.

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><p><em>I am walking down a long, dim corridor with many dark doorways on each side of me. I don't know why I'm walking towards the dim light at the end of the hallway, but something in my gut tells me that I have to hurry before it's too late. But the corridor keeps getting longer and longer as I walk faster and then eventually break into a run. Panting for breath I suddenly crash into the far wall and turn to the right to where the light is coming from. The last door in the hallway is open, and inside it I see stone steps leading down down down into that cold, flickering light. I move to the doorway and my heart leaps to my throat when I can hear screams coming from the dungeon below and they're <em>his_ screams and I'm running down the stairs which seem to go on forever and I'm crying now and he keeps screaming and begging for mercy and I keep running down down down and I can't see but I can still hear him and now I'm screaming too and I fall down, down, down..._

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><p>"Hero!"<p>

I woke with a jerk, looking up quickly to see Amy bending over me. She looked a little concerned.

"Hey, you," she murmured, frowning slightly at me, "you okay, then?"

My heart was still pounding in my chest, but I nodded, rubbing my eyes. I was thirsty.

"You were twitchin' in your sleep... I'm sorry this whole mess has upset you," she went on, helping me get to my feet.

"It's not your fault," I replied, straightening my clothes, "I'm just... It was all so beautiful, but then it went so wrong..." Amy looked sad as I said this, but unsurprised. Probably she was fairly used to things like this.

"Well, it's time... Damon said we should step outside..."

My heart jolted, and I felt instantly alert. I met Amy's eyes for an instant, then followed her out of the tent and into the large cavern. Small shafts of light filtered down from the high ceiling all the way to the stone floor below. _So it is daytime after all... _Damon and Rory were waiting for us outside, both looking grave. A small group of green aliens stood nearby, regarding us curiously. If I hadn't been so tied up in knots inside I would have laughed when I thought about how strange and pink we must have looked to them. I focused on the two men in front of me, however, staying close to Amy.

"Hello again, friends," Damon greeted us, smiling faintly. He faced all three of us, laying a hand on Amy and Rory's shoulders and nodding to me. "The DakTar agreed to speak with me. I have to admit I'm a bit surprised. They have agreed to... something."

We all sighed in relief, leaning forward expectantly.

"Yes?" I encouraged him, my heart pounding in my throat, "Is the Doctor okay?"

"I'm very very sorry," Damon replied, looking at me, "but they would not show him to me. I expected them to treat this like the usual detainee situation, gods know it's happened enough..." He looked very sadly at us, then straightened, withdrawing his hands from Amy and Rory. "Anyway, the point is, our friend the Doctor is in grave peril. But, _but..._" He cut off our sounds of anguish, raising his hands, "the DakTar have agreed that the Doctor can and will receive a full pardon for his... crimes... if at least one of you, his faithful companions, can free him." There was a pause, then Damon went on, "Apparently this is like some sort of ritual competition or something, I couldn't really understand what they meant."

"We'll try, of course," Rory stated, and Amy and I nodded fervently.

Damon smiled sadly at the three of us, nodding in approval, "I begged to be allowed to try, but they refused and cut off communications for a few moments. I had almost given up hope, but then they reconnected and said that only you three may attempt to free our friend the Doctor. Now, we must hurry, the trial will begin soon..."

"Trial?" I murmured, confused.

"_THE CEREMONY BEGINS NOW,_" boomed that same strange, mechanical voice, and we all jumped except Damon. He began to herd us away from the encampments toward a solid rock face. Suddenly a large doorway in the rock melted into existence, the strange voice of the DakTar spoke again, "_SLAVES OF THE DOCTOR, YOU SHALL BEGIN THE TRIALS TO FIND YOUR MASTER._"

"We are not his bloody slaves!" Amy cried, looking furious, "We're here because we are his friends!"

There was a terrible sort of metallic chuckle from wherever-it-was, that voice, and it went on, "_ENTER THE DOORWAY NOW, SLAVES._"

I swore under my breath, then led the way into the doorway. A long dark passageway lay ahead, and we all paused, looking back out into the bright cave. Damon was backing away, raising his hands in some sort of blessing. Then the rock wall melted back into place and we were left standing in near-darkness.

"Well this is just awesome," I muttered, moving cautiously forward. Amy looked like she was about to burst into flames right there with anger.

"I just wish, I _just wish_ for _once_ we didn't always get into some trouble," she hissed, taking Rory's arm for support hard enough to bruise, "the Doctor has got to be more careful, he''ll get himself killed like this..." She trailed off, lowering her eyes. She looked just as troubled as I did inside.

"Come on, then, let's rescue the Doctor," Rory said gently, steering us two girls down the passageway. There was water dripping down the walls, nasty looking water, so I stayed right in the middle of the path.

"I wonder what we're gonna have to do..." I began, and then we turned a corner and the passageway opened out into a large room with silver metal walls. We stopped at once, looking around us. The room was empty, and it extended for quite some ways ahead into dimness.

"Let's go," I said, taking a bold step forward, but was cut off as we heard an odd grating sound behind us. It took me a second to realize that some other stone door back in the passageway had just slid open.

We heard a low growl. Then a scuffling sound.

"_Run!_" Amy shouted, and we did, sprinting across metal flooring as whatever it was snarled behind us. I didn't want to look, but when I heard Rory shout I turned my head just in time to see a huge rat thing bearing down on us, snapping its fangs and roaring. A freaking roaring _rat_...

"Oh _shit!_" I screamed, trying to run faster. Amy and Rory caught up with me and we bolted through the vast metal room, gasping for breath as the creature slowly got closer. I could hear its claws scratching one the floor.

Up ahead I could see that the room dwindled down into another long passage, and this one had a fork in it. The right side only went for a little way, however, but the left side seemed longer and more like a viable escape route. By now we were running so fast that it would have been difficult to stop, so when we got to the fork and I dashed down the left-hand passage, it took a split second for me to realize that Amy and Rory had gone the other way.

I thudded to a halt, the creature slowing down about twenty feet from the fork, snarling. There was a loud thump of something heavy hitting a wall in the next passage, and Amy cried out.

"Damn it!" Rory shouted, "Damn perception filter..."

_Perception filter..._

I could see through those.

I turned around fully, facing the way I had come, and then Amy and Rory rounded the corner; they had doubled back and paused. They were staring straight at me but seemed as though they actually couldn't see me.

"I'm hear!" I shouted, "It's an illusion, just come through! That rat is right there!"

They began to inch forward, holding their hands out, and realized with a sudden jolt that the rat thing, or whatever it was, was gone. _What..._

And then without warning a heavy metal door slid down from the ceiling of the passageway, down between Amy and Rory and myself, shutting them out. Shutting me in.

The lights flickered and went out.


	10. A Glimpse of the Doctor

I apologize for the curse word at the beginning, but Hero insisted that this was an appropriate moment to swear loudly. hehehe

Also, this chapter is a bit vague, but the interesting stuff is about to begin!

Don't you miss being on the TARDIS?

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><p>The tunnel was now completely pitch-black.<p>

"Oh _fuck this!_" I yelled, drawing back, my arms instinctively wrapping around myself. I started to breath rather quickly, straining with my eyes to see anything at all. Blackness greeted me. If I could have flipped off the darkness I would have. Not that I'm afraid of the dark, per se. Wait, never mind.

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god..." I started to inch forward, finding a wall with my left hand and letting it guide me.

At least there weren't any creepy sounds or anything, at least for now. But the silence pressing around me as I felt my way forward into the darkness soon became as unnerving as the darkness itself. I fingernails scratched at the metal wall, which felt icy cold. I could feel that the floor was beginning to slope downwards slightly, like I was traveling deeper underground. I cursed again as I wondered what the hell this clawing around in the dark would help me to free the Doctor.

As soon as I thought about him, it happened again; my mind felt like it was being touched from the outside, like a new thought that was completely not my own was trying to find its way into my head. I stopped moving, trying to process the sensation. I wondered briefly if this was some sort of telepathic experience, and whether the Doctor himself was perhaps telepathic. I honestly had no idea, but it wouldn't be very surprising. The strange feeling in my mind went away for a moment, then returned with more strength then before. I was just beginning to feel sure that someone _was _trying to speak to me in my mind, when suddenly the sensation was cut off and I heard it. It was very very faint, echoing up through this tunnel and up to me, but I heard it clearly. Screaming.

I felt almost literal pain in my heart as I jerked forward again, clawing along the wall, moving much faster now. The sound was so faint that I could only recognize that it sounded human, not animal or alien, and my whole body felt cold with dread as I continued down the sloped passage. As I went on and on I began to realize that the sounds were words, not just screamed, but words being screamed out. Yes, and the voice was male, and I nearly threw up when I realized what I had guessed all along, that it was the Doctor's voice.

"I'm here!" I yelled, half sobbed, walking in the pitch blackness and stumbling as I went, my fingers numbing from the contact with the cold wall, "I'm coming, please... please stop! Oh my god please stop making him scream like that, please please please..."

I became aware of a dim light ahead of me, though it took a few moments for me to be sure that it wasn't just my imagination playing tricks on me. A couple of minutes later I could see that dim walls of the passage around me. There was a door ahead.

The Doctor was still shouting somewhere ahead, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. It seemed to be the same thing over and over, something about... about an arrow or something.

I was running forward now, panting hard, stopping dead as I reached the doorway.

The door opened into a small control room complete with various work tables, flashing buttons, screens, strange symbols on the panels... One of the screens was on, it was contributing to a lot of the ambient light, and I went to it.

The Doctor was on the screen. He was being filmed, at least his upper torso was, though the picture was all grainy. He had stopped screaming several moments before I'd entered the room, and now I just stood there, watching him on the screen. He appeared to be restrained by large bands across his arms and upper chest, and his face was turned to the side, his eyes closed. I swallowed, unable to blink as I gazed at him. It felt like a decade since our brief adventure on the TARDIS, and I could feel relief flooding through me that he was at least alive.

"_Doctor..._" I whispered, reaching out a shaking hand to brush a finger against the cold screen. He shifted and I jumped back, "Can... can you hear me?" My voice sounded weak and squeaky. He was looked sort in the camera's general direction, but made no other sign that he'd heard me speak. I wilted slightly. I leaned in closer to the grainy image. He seemed paler than usual, and their were faint dark streaks beneath his eyes like he was exhausted. He stared blankly ahead, lips slightly parted, and I could see his chest rising and falling softly.

Suddenly I could hear other sounds coming from the screen, the sound of a door opening and shuffling footsteps. The Doctor blinked, now looking at something I couldn't see, and he smiled faintly.

"You'll have to come get me, Hero," he murmured to the room, quite distinctly, and then large shimmering hands entered the image and rough voices spoke in a language I couldn't understand. The camera jerked, twisted around so that I was now looking at the Doctor's side feet instead of his face, and I seized the sides of the screen as if I could turn the image back, as if I could bring _him_ back. There was a flash of light, the Doctor's feet twitched violently, and then the screen turned to static and went blank.

I cried out in frustration and horror, pounding my fists into the sides of the screen that had taken him away from me. There were tears in my eyes and my breath caught in my throat.

I nearly jumped out of my skin as the metallic voice greeted me, "_YOU MUST COMPLETE THE THREE CHALLENGES, SLAVE. YOUR MASTER'S LIFE DEPENDS ON YOU._" I put my hands to my face with a groan, trying not to freak out completely.

There was the sound of another door opening next me, and I raised my face from my hands to look through the doorway. There was a bright red glare coming from it.

I took one last look at the blank screen which had held the Doctor's face, and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes for a moment, replaying in my mind the part when the Doctor had said my name, had told me to come get him. I clenched my fists to my side, turning to face the new doorway, and resolutely walked toward it.

The first test was about to begin.


	11. The Bridge and the Watch

Well, I'm back! Happy holidays, everyone! I hope you've been able to relax and spend time with friends and family. :)

This chapter is a bit more exciting, I hope, and it will contain a twist at the end! OOoooooh )

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Doctor Who characters or plot points that I may or may not have "borrowed." I do, however, own Hero, so there! hahaha

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><p>Red light engulfed me for a moment as I stepped through the doorway, and the burned smell of heated iron assaulted my nose. A second later, the heavy metal door clanged shut behind me and the light dimmed a bit to a more comfortable level. Blinking, I took a step forward and then froze then I felt a strong updraft around my feet. I looked down.<p>

I was standing on a narrow stone bridge which appeared to span over a vast and deep crack in the ground. The red light seemed to come from all around me, and a cold draft of air was rising up out of the endless pit beneath me. I shivered. Looking ahead I saw that the narrow bridge disappeared into a sort of mist. Behind me was a solid wall where the door had been, so I figured that the best way to go was forward. I bit my lip as I hesitantly slid one foot forward, hardly daring to breath. It wasn't that I was afraid of heights, exactly, but anyone would be nervous to cross such a small span of rock over some endless depth. Nothing terrible happened after my first step, so I felt a small amount of encouragement as I slowly moved forward, placing my hands out in front of me cautiously. Part of my felt like running across to wherever this bridge would take me; my mind was still haunted by what little I had seen of the Doctor on the screen and what he had said to me.

After several moments, I looked up from the stone floor of the bridge to get an idea of how far I'd gone. The mistiness still lay ahead, glowing a faint red as it reflected the weird light around me. Glancing back, hoping I'd gone at least ten feet or so, I was shocked to see that the bridge behind me was much, much farther than I had thought, and the wall where I had entered was no longer visible. I was now surrounded by red mist and light, the cold air beneath me making me shiver. My heart was thudding in my throat as I contemplated whether what I was seeing was a false image of some sort. If my eyes were telling the truth, I had walked not a few yards but more like 50 feet from my starting position. A quick flash of fear made me wonder whether I would ever reach the end or if I was just stuck in some sort of loop. _A time loop, maybe..._

Shuffling forward once more, I turned to face the front and tried to go a little faster this time. This slightly quicker pace went one for several more long minutes as I made myself stay focused on what was ahead and not what was behind. This vast cavern was eerily silent except for a faint sound of air moving and my own fast breathing.

I was looking down to keep my bearings when suddenly my outstretched hands brushed against something. Terrified, I whipped my head up and realized that I'd bumped into a door that was standing, completely free of any supports, on the bridge itself. It was blocking my way and looked oddly sinister as it stood surrounded by air and red light. I hesitantly pushed against it and was surprised when it opened at once without a sound. I stepped through and was rewarded only with a continuation of the same stone bridge disappearing into mist. I whirled around, frantic, and nearly screamed when the door swung shut suddenly of its own accord, trapping me yet again from behind. I stood very still, trying to calm myself, knowing that whatever was happening was part of a challenge to save the Doctor. As soon as I had this thought, however, I heard voices ahead of me in the mist. Startled, I turned ahead, squinting as I tried to make out any movement.

"H-hello?" I called, my shaky voice sounding thin and small in this vast space. There was no reply.

A second later, the voices started talking again, but I couldn't quite make out the words.

"Excuse me, what are you saying?" I called again, starting to move down the bridge again towards the sounds. Something about them sounded familiar, and I moved a little faster, my eyes still glued on the mist ahead in hopes of seeing something.

"_Hero, have you finished your homework?_" said a female voice some feet ahead of me, and I froze. My mother was speaking to me out of the red mist.

"Oh my god..." I muttered, shuffling forward a bit more, "Mom? Mom can you hear me?"

"_I need you to bring me the silver polish, honey, it's polish day,_" My mother's voice sounded faint, almost like an echo. I still couldn't see anything, and I could feel a cold sweat breaking out on my forehead. This was seriously getting creepy.

"_Oh, and bring daddy's silver watch while you're in there, okay?_"

"_Okay, Mama._"

I gasped as I heard my own little-kid voice ahead in the mistiness.

"What the _hell_ is going on?" I cried, feeling truly panicked now. I could remember the day we polished the silver together, the day before my eighth birthday, the day before I was given...

"_Here you go, Mama, and here's Daddy's watch._" I felt sick listening to my child self talking somewhere ahead of me. This was like a nightmare.

"_Thanks. There's a lot to do today, look at how brown these plates are!_"

"Mom..." I called again, inching forward, my hands trembling in front of me.

"_Mama, can I play with it?"_

"_With what?"_

"_The watch, it's so pretty and I like all the flowers on it..."_

"_No, just set it here. You're not supposed to open it, remember?"_

My child self sighed somewhere in the mist, and there was a clunking sound like something heavy and metal being set down on a wooden table.

"_The polish smells funny._"

All at once my nose detected an odd smell in the air, one that I recognized at once as silver polish. Silver polish. There was something ahead of me in the mist, now, something small and bright and floating.

I nearly ran forward, teetering around on the bridge, nearly stumbling, until I stood right in the front of the floating object. My father's silver watch. _My _watch.

I had left it at home, my parent's home, before I'd left for college four years ago. I'd locked it in my jewelry box, I'd eventually lost the key. My silver, flowered watch, the one I'd gotten as a birthday present when I turned eight, the gift from my mother that my father had left for me when he'd gotten sick a few years before. The watch was _floating_ in the air in front of me, rotating slowly, its carved silver designs still intricate and delicate like I'd remembered.

I couldn't breath as I gazed at it.

Slowly my left hand raised almost in spite of itself and moved towards the floating watch. I continued to hold my breath until one fingertip brushed, ever so lightly, across the silver surface.

I immediately unfroze.

"What the _hell_ are you playing at?" I yelled, grasping the watch firmly and taking in into my palm, "Did you... did you sneak into my mom's house and steal this? Are you crazy?" I was shouting to the walls, the mist, the invisible depths beneath me, my heart thundering in my chest as my fingers closed around the heavy watch, "What sort of messed up game _is_ this?" My voice faltered, and I caught my breath, hot tears of emotion and fear prickling in my eyes. I glanced down at the watch, half-enclosed in my fist, and swallowed with difficulty.

"_**Hero..."**_

With a faint scream I clutched at my head, the watch still clutched safely in my head, the Doctor's voice pounding through my mind. A second later I found myself kneeling on the cold stone of the bridge, eyes squeezed shut, trying to maintain some sort of mental balance. His voice in my head was like being handed some huge and heavy without any preparation; I felt like my mind was about to topple over.

"_**Hero, I need you to trust me."**_

I gasped, trying to open my eyes, trying to say something aloud, but my body had lost a will of its own and swayed dangerously near to the edge of the bridge.

"_**Please, this has never been more important, and it will change your life, but you have got to get up and trust me." **_The Doctor's voice in my head was calm, yet I could feel ripples of earnest anxiety coming from his words. With an enormous effort I opened my eyes, still clutching at the sides of my head, stumbling to my feet, the press of the silver pocket watch marking my palm as I squeezed.

"Doctor..." I mumbled, feeling like a powerful wind was crashing through my mind, knowing that in a few moments I would be swept over the edge of an even deeper pit in my own consciousness, "I can't... I can't move..." My voice cracked and failed as I teetered forward. The cold air rising around me blew harder, whipping my body around, tearing at me like someone was trying to toss me into the deep crevasse below.

"_**Hero, listen to me, you're going to fall unless you do exactly what I say. If you fall, you'll die, do you understand? You must do what I say. Hero..."**_ I was aware that cold tears were streaming from my eyes, though I couldn't remember how or why they had gotten there. My head felt like it was about to explode. An extra strong gust of wind knocked me to the ground and I scrambled for a handhold on the smooth stone.

"Doctor, what do I do?" I cried, looking with wide eyes down into the pit that was trying to blow me into itself, "I'll do it, just tell me!"

"_**Open the watch,"**_ he replied, **_"Open it as quick as you can!"_**

"But..." I felt like a small child again, pleading with my mother, "but I was never supposed to do that! It's fragile! It'll... it'll break..." I lowered my eyes to the object clutched in my hand, opening my fingers, taking hold of the latch in spite of myself. In doing this I lost whatever hold I had on the bridge and I teetered towards the edge as the icy air shoved at me ruthlessly, swirling my hair into my face.

"_**Please! Do it! I can't just lie here and watch you die! Everything will be alright, everything will make sense to you, I promise!" **_

Just as I began to topple over into the crevasse, I pulled at the watch, swinging it open, hearing a sharp crack as the hinges snapped apart, heard my own cry of fear as I fell fell fell over the edge, my eyes blinded by a huge explosion of light coming from the shattered watch in my hands, as every cell in my body convulsed and everything faded into blackness.

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><p><em>The man was standing next to my mother, my <em>real_ mother, and there were tears in her eyes. I had to look up a long way to see their faces, I was small and they were so much bigger and more important than me. My mother continued to cry, and the man reached out a hand to comfort her. She was nodding now, not looking down at me even when I began to cry, too. I wasn't sure why I was crying, but everything in the world seemed so sad that I couldn't bear it. The man bent down to me, picking me up in his arms, and I looked at my weeping mother and tried to still my own tears. _

"_She won't remember any of it, I promise," the man told my mother, resting a gentle hand on my head, "and the TARDIS will take care of the rest. You know what I have to do, this is a way for her to get away from all of it. And there's only one chance."_

"_We have to take it, then," she managed, and she briefly looked at me with stricken eyes._

"_It'll be okay, mom," I said, reaching out a small hand towards her._

"_She's sure it'll work out," the man said, patting me gently._

"_How... how do you know?" my mother asked, reaching out to touch my fingers._

"_Because I speak baby" the man replied, "You know that, I speak every language."_

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><p><em><em>Hooray for shocking plot twists! Hope it wasn't too wild for you, please review! More to come very soon :)


	12. The Change

_A white-hot glare over-whelmed me and I crashed into another place, another time, felt myself slip out of the man's arms and into another space. Light whirled around me. I felt hollow, incomplete, torn apart... and then I forgot everything else... and I slept._

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><p>Air was forced into my lungs and I woke abruptly, gasping, a hand clutched to my chest. It felt like I'd been running for miles and miles, my chest was thudding so fast I couldn't keep up with the beats. My entire body tingled like I'd just received an electric shock. Opening my eyes, I realized that I was once again in a dim tunnel, and the air felt colder than ever. Slowly, very slowly, I tried to sit up. I managed it, but my lungs felt like they were pounding and I glanced down at myself in concern. Everything <em>looked<em> fine, there weren't any obvious injuries and extra limbs.

I shook myself, attempting to clear my head, trying to make sense of the images I'd seen of my mother and that man... the man with the familiar voice.

What the hell..." My chest felt like it was vibrating, trembling, and I tentatively reached up a hand to feel my heart. It seemed fine, thumping away at a normal pace. It seemed a bit weird that I could actually _feel_ my heart beating from the outside, but at least I was alive. The fluttering feeling continued, and I felt a ripple of uncertainty go through me as I slowly moved my hand over to the right side of my chest. I gasped suddenly, whipping my hand away and staring down at myself.

I felt another heart beat there.

For a long moment I stayed very still, trying to understand what was going on with my body. Slowly, inching, I raised my hand back up and placed it against my chest. Yes, there was a beat here as well. I put my other hand on my chest, feeling where I expected to feel my heart normally. The two rhythms didn't line up at all, but came one right after the other, almost like... almost like...

_I have another heart_.

An involuntary sound escaped me and I leaped to my feet, still clutching at myself. In a bit of a panic I looked around myself wildly. Lying on the ground where I had been was my silver watch, opened and nearly snapped in two. Beside it was... a sonic screwdriver. Swiftly I bent and scooped up both objects, examining the latter closely as I did so. I couldn't tell if it was the Doctor's, I hadn't seen his close up, but it definitely was a similar model, at least. Not having the slightest clue what to do with either the screwdriver or the watch, I pocketed both of them and looked around once more.

"_YOU ARE SERVING YOUR MASTER WELL, SLAVE."_

I nearly jumped out of my skin, and my new twin hearts crashed in my chest.

"What... what the hell is going on?" I shouted, "Where's the Doctor? What have... what have you _done_ to me?" I could feel tears in my eyes as the panic overtook my anger at not finding the Doctor. I was truly frightened at what was happening in my body; there was so much energy coursing through me that it felt like I was about to explode, and my hearts throbbed relentlessly as they pumped the energy through me.

"_YOUR PHYSICAL CONDITION IS STABLE," _the metallic voice continued, _"YOUR BODY IS NOW MORE SUITED TO THE TASKS AHEAD. YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO FIND YOUR MASTER... JUST ENOUGH TIME..."_

Turning, I began the jog down the hallway, feeling my legs surge with power and my lungs expand like they never had before. I felt like I could run forever and not get tired or out of breath. The metal voice followed me, screeching louder this time,

"_FOLLOW THIS TUNNEL TO THE NEXT TASK. BUT REMEMBER: THE DOCTOR DESERVES HIS PUNISHMENT. YOU NOW HAVE THE TOOLS TO ESCAPE NOW AND LEAVE HIM TO HIS FATE."_

"Screw that!" I cried, running faster now, feeling the slope of the tunnel floor as it began to descend lower, "Don't you dare think for one _second_ that I'm going to let you freaking douche bags keep him! Think again!"

Feeling another surge of power, I sprinted full-tilt down the tunnel, down and down until a wall appeared in front of me, a door slid open, and I rushed through it.


	13. Glimpses and Chameleon Arches

**Sorry this chapter isn't very long, but I hope it sheds some light on the subject... ;)**

**It's come to my attention that a few readers may not know about the significance of the pocket watch, so I have included the best explanation that I can. Also, "Human Nature" with the 10th Doctor has another example of Time-Lord-to-human changes. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Do I really need this silly thing still? Very well... Not mine! hehehe**

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><p>I was not entirely alone.<p>

Past the doorway was a small room, completely square up and down, and on the far wall was a huge television screen which covered every inch of the cold stone. On the screen, seated in a large restraining chair, was the Doctor.

I stopped cold, my hearts thudding one right after another like a horse at a full gallop. My breath came out in a whoosh, making me a bit dizzy for a moment.

"_Hello,_" the Doctor said simply, smiling kindly at me. His voice crackled slightly from a smal speaker I hadn't seen before which was perched on the floor nearby. Realizing at once that he was looking directly at me, I stumbled forward a bit.

"You... Doctor, are you... are you alright?" My voice sounded strangely loud in this small stone room, rattling around me.

"_I will be,_" he replied, looking seriously at me, his deep hazel eyes fixed on mine, "_I... Hero, I want to apologize... for dragging you into this mess with me. This was supposed to be my battle, and you've been thrown into a lion's den._" His eyes looked so old as he gazed at me, so old and so troubled. He looked even more tired than when I'd seen him before on the smaller screen, before the watch... Before...

"Doctor, what's happened to me?" I cried in spite of myself, resting a hand against my new heart – the one on the right side, "I'm... I have..."

"_This will be very difficult for you to take in, Hero, but you see... we've met before. Your mother was my friend and, well, she needed a favor. I had a different face then, I was younger and Time Lords need to regenerate every so often, but I was still me... though much younger. Your mother needed to protect you from the coming Time War and... I offered her the best option. And you were the only Time Lord, that I know of, who was saved in this way."_

My mouth hung open slightly as I tried to take in what he was saying. So, what I had dreamed had been the truth. Or something like the truth. Realizing that my mouth was still open I shut it promptly, embarrassed.

"_I used a part of the TARDIS called the Chameleon Arch, which changed you into from a baby Time Lord into a baby human. The TARDIS hid you in a time, in a place, where you would be safe._" The Doctor looked away from me for a moment, regret written on his features, _"The pocket watch... You grew up with it by your side, it held the key to changing you back, all your memories, your physical form as a Time Lord..._"

"I have two hearts..." I choked, feeling the two of them clash together.

The Doctor nodded, meeting my eyes once more, "_I used the Chameleon Arch once, to hide, and it was not easy to change back. Not at all. Hero..._" He leaned forward in his chair, and I saw that his wrists were bound tightly to it with thin strips of wire. The skin was chafed.

"_Hero Smith the Hero, what you are feeling right now is perfectly normal and right, just like you are._" He said this so earnestly that I blushed... and then I nodded. "_I can't possibly guess what will happen next, but believe me..._" His eyes seemed to twinkle slightly, and his lips curved into a small smile, "_I trust you, and I know you'll be... brilliant._"

I opened my mouth to answer him but found that my throat had gone completely dry. I swallowed hastily and was about to speak when a loud crash came from the speaker. I jumped, and the Doctor looked beyond the camera once more, just as he had before. Someone had opened a heavy metal door near his chair.

"_You'll be brilliant, Hero,"_ the Doctor muttered, speaking very quickly, _"and you must promise to do whatever it takes, you understand me? Whatever it takes, to save yourself._" There was a glow in the room with him, and I stepped back involuntarily, wishing I could reach out to him, cut through his bindings, set him free. "_Promise me!" _the Doctor whispered frantically, and then a large glowing figure came into view, and the screen went black.

There was a second's pause, and then,

"_I must ask, if you don't mind..._" The Doctor's voice was still coming out of the speaker, and I practically threw myself on it. He spoke very calmly and with authority,_"I fail to see how all this... is somehow making me feel 'alone.' I mean, all of this unnecessary pain is, of course, tiresome, but _why,_ may I ask, are you also TOYING WITH MY COMPANIONS?_" This last part was spoken in a thunderous tone from the Doctor, and was followed by an electrical zapping sound and his cry of pain. After the moment of pure silence I heard the Doctor groan and then murmur, very softly, _"Hero... save yourself..._"

"_**RUN, SLAVE, BEFORE I LOSE MY PATIENCE**,"_ came a metallic voice from the speaker, then there was a loud crackling and the speaker went dead.


	14. Screwdrivers and Getting Caught

**Happy New Year 2012, everyone! I'm excited about this chapter since the next one will have the Doctor in it... in the flesh! :D Poor Hero is having a rough time of it, I'm afraid... *sigh* Why do I do this to my characters? _Why?_ **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its loveliness. However, most of this chapter (except for the idea of Time Lords and sonic screwdrivers) is arguably my own... :)**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>The corridor ahead was a very long one, tapering down into a pinpoint as I began to run towards the end.<p>

The images pounding through me as I ran were confusing, jumbled. First there was a flash of being held by the real mother I didn't know, gazing out over the Time Lords' Citadel (now that I remembered what that was). It was so beautiful, so distant and alien, and I realized as I jogged downhill that most of my memories were of my human form. I mean, I remembered a small amount of time as a Time Lord baby, being held and played with and _sung to_ and an image of the Doctor bending kindly over my cradle... He looked different then, very different, yet I recognized him at once as the same floppy-haired idiot whom I was searching for now.

For some odd reason I couldn't remember _why_ he looked different now, since it seemed like something I should know, but I couldn't summon up the reason and it was nagging at me. My earliest memory, jumbled as it all was, was a fiery hot sensation followed by a popping sensation and feeling my own body. I had no idea how to process this memory. Weirdly, it felt connected with why the Doctor had a completely different body now that he was older.

Gritting my teeth, I realized that I'd been running for quite a while now, consumed by my memories and doubts, and I still hadn't reached the next destination in this mad "ceremony" or whatever the hell it was. I came to a halt, registering that my breathing had barely sped up to fuel my running. My hearts were thudding sharply, however, and I stared behind and in front in confusion. The tunnel continued on as it had before, tapering down until it vanished into a point. What was behind me was even more unnerving, since it appeared to also do the same. If I wasn't so sure of which direction I'd come from, I would have gotten confused as to which way was towards the Doctor and which was returning to the last room.

Despite my innate knowledge that I was once again a Time Lord, despite this knowledge throbbing in every cell of my being, I couldn't find an increased ability to figure out what to do next. I was surprised, a second later, when my brain told me that perhaps what I was seeing was an illusion of some sort. The tunnel couldn't possibly be what my eyes were telling me it was.

_Of course... Perhaps this is another test..._

Well, it couldn't hurt to try something.

I turned towards the wall on my right and slowly placed my palm against it, feeling its cool stones smooth against my skin. Yet I detected a strange sensation beneath my fingertips, making the small hairs on the back of my neck stand up a bit. Not sure why, I leaned my whole weight into my arm and pushed quite suddenly against the wall, gasping as my hand and wrist literally _sunk_ into what had appeared to be stone a second before. It felt as though my hand was enclosed in pudding, sliding in deeper, urging the rest of my arm to follow suit. I felt a tingling in my brain, a general agreement with some new unknown genius inside my head which gave my conscious self permission to continued. _Oh yay... I'm a baby Doctor... Got a smart-ass in my head. Brilliant._

In one smooth motion I teetered forward towards the strange wall. For one terrifying moment I was completely encased in the pudding-like substance, my eyes and mouth squeezed shut and my hearts thudding in excited terror. After a tense moment, however, I found myself released and quickly opened my eyes.

"_**WELL DONE, SPAWN OF THE TIME LORDS,**_" blared a metallic voice, and for the first time since we'd landed on this insane planet I beheld my adversary. A tall figure made of a gold-white light stood before me, and I shivered when I couldn't distinguish a face among the glowing material of its body. I also felt a rush of adrenaline as I once again found myself in the presence of an alien being. I swallowed, staying very still in one place as I attempted to meet this thing's gaze, if it had one.

"_**YOU ARE CRUDE AND UNFORMED, TIME LORD CHILD,**_" the creature continued, and I felt a flicker of annoyance.

"I think I'm doing alright, thank you," I retorted, balling my hands into fists at my sides, "and it's no thanks to you that I've been returned to my normal state; it was bound to happen sooner or later."

"_**NO, IT WAS NOT, WE FORSAW YOUR INTERACTIONS WITH THE CRIMINAL WHO CALLS HIMSELF THE DOCTOR... YOUR EXISTANCE HAS PROVIDED US WITH HONORABLE JUSTICE.**_"

"How is torturing your prisoners honorable?" I cried at the being in front of me, "How is forcing another person to go through a whole string of stupid things while you allow their entire body to change? You can't possibly imagine what had happened to me now that I'm..." I gestured wordlessly to my body, words failing to describe my transformation. "How is that honorable? Who the hell do you think you are?" A small corner of my brain that kept some of its human emotions was telling me that I should feel afraid right now, but all I felt was righteous indignation, that and a growing thread of excitement that I couldn't explain.

"_**OUR WAYS DO NOT HAVE TO MAKE SENSE TO AN INFANT SUCH AS YOURSELF. WE ARE ANCIENT, WE ARE WISE, WE ARE WRONGED AND GRANTED REVENGE. YOUR PURPOSE IN OUR JUSTICE IS DRAWING TO A CLOSE. PREPARE YOURSELF.**_"

The alien moved towards me slowly, extending long slender arms with glowing hands outwards. I backed up, bumping against the pudding-wall I'd come through. It didn't give like before, and I realized that it was probably one-way. There was no escape behind me. Glancing around very quickly I registered that I was in a large hall made of carved-out stone, not a natural cavern but perhaps a manufactured one. Floating orbs of light shown high above me, but most of the light was coming from the tall alien in front of me. It was now only about five feet away, and I could feel heat coming from it quite distinctly.

"_**YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RESIST,**_" the creature blared, moving ever closer. I raised my hands in a protective gesture, glancing around feverishly. I had no idea what the alien was going to do with me, but I knew for sure that I didn't want it to touch me.

A burst of energy flowed through every muscle in my body and I leaped to the side, avoided the alien's long arms. I dodged away from it, running as fast as I could away from it and through the large hall. The alien roared an odd, gravelly, metallic roar, and I heard a faint hissing sound as it began to chase me.

"_**YOU ARE UNWISE, CHILD, RUNNING WILL ONLY MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR YOU,**_" it cried, and I only ran faster towards a pair of large wooden doors on the far side of the hall, "_**TURN YOURSELF OVER AND LET US ENACT OUR JUSTICE!**_"

"Go to bloody freaking hell!" I yelled, screeching to a halt in front of the doors, yanking one open, and scampering through. I managed to pull it closed behind me but dashed on down yet another darkened corridor, hearing the alien fumbling with the door handle somewhere behind me.

I turned a sharp corner and found myself in a long thin room filled with tables. They blocked my way across to the other side of the room, and I had to slow down to maneuver and push my way through this chamber. When I had nearly reached the next set of doors, something to my left caught my eye and I froze in place.

Lying on a nearby table was... the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.

I felt a rush of warmth flood through my body as I realized that I could be very close to finding the Doctor himself. With a quick movement I leaped forward, grabbing at the sonic just as the alien came crashing into the room. Its glow had increased to an almost blinding brilliance and I whipped back towards the far doors and started to sprint, tucking the sonic into my pants' pocket as I went. My breath was coming in sharp pants, my hearts throbbing in my chest, yet I felt energy coursing through me like I was taking a sedate Sunday walk. I plunged ahead, running bodily into the pair of white doors, praying they weren't solid, and I crashed through them completely, feeling pieces fly past me as I charged on.

I sprinted around a corner, feeling a bit triumphant that I'd gotten ahead, and tripped over myself in horror as I realized that the alien, or perhaps another of its species, was now standing in front of me. I couldn't stop, I had been running too fast, and I felt the sonic screwdriver pressing tightly against my leg as I reached a protective hand over it and careened forward. The alien's metal voice seemed to cry out, like it too had been surprised, and I crashed headlong into it.

Every nerve in my body came alive, my eyes and brain completely blinded in light, and then there was nothing.


	15. We Are the Same

_I am floating in space, blinding light surrounding me, feeling my two Time Lord hearts throb back and forth across my chest. The air is still, and I can hear my won breathing like a storm in my ears. There is complete silence. _

_With a jolt I realize that I feel very cold all of a sudden, and I shiver violently. On a whim I glance down at myself._

_I'm clothed in white, and there's bright red blood streaming down the front of my chest. A dagger is clutched in my right hand._

_I scream._

* * *

><p>"Hero, it's time to wake up, now..."<p>

I jerked into consciousness, my whole body twitching slightly as I did so, and shook my head slightly. A voice had spoken right beside me, ordering me awake. I slowly looked down at myself and discovered that I was tied rather firmly to a nearly-upright wooden table which held me up almost as if I was standing on my feet. My toes, however, dangled a good yard or so from the ground and my legs felt tingly. My head felt worse.

"Ah... hello again," the voice beside me continued, and I carefully turned my head and realized that he was also trussed up next to me... the Doctor. I sighed in relief at the sight of him, quickly sweeping my eyes over his entire body in search of wounds, missing limbs, anything. He seemed to be all in one piece, at least on the outside, so I quickly looked up again to meet his eyes and smiled in spite of myself.

"Hello," I replied, rather breathlessly, feeling my hearts race a bit faster. I'd actually done it, I'd found the Doctor, and he wasn't dead or permanently handicapped or anything! He was whole and in front of me, grinning like a school boy.

He too looked me up and down, and I resisted squirming under his gaze. "You seem okay, Hero, but the question still needs to be asked..." He met my gaze again, "_Are_ you okay?"

I paused, holding my breath, then answered, "I... I think so, I mean this is a lot to take in all at once... But, yeah. I think I'll be alright." I offered him a small smile, feeling the pulse of my hearts slow a little.

"Alright, then!" He said, and I imagined that he would have clapped his hands if he hadn't been so thoroughly tied, "Time to get away from here before anything... unexpected... happens." He looked rather excited at the prospect of this challenge, and I stared at him a bit incredulously, still a bit awed by how _alien_ he was. Such a tense situation would have been much more taxing for a human to endure, I reasoned, but a second later I realized that I didn't feel very panicky, either... I felt... kind of _excited_.

_Oh dear lord... So this is what it actually feels like to be a Time Lord..._

I realized that the Doctor was still chattering on to himself about how we could escape this room, but I interrupted him, "Wait... Doctor..." He turned to me, his blue eyes solemn. I blinked at him for a moment before continuing, "Those aliens... They hurt you, didn't they? Are _you_ okay?"

The Doctor paused for a moment, looking up at the ceiling and then returned his gaze to me. He smiled. "I'm alright, Hero, don't worry." I couldn't bring myself to smile back, not after how much I'd worried about him. "It would take a lot to damage me," he assured me, beginning to wriggle about a bit in his ropes.

Not entirely assured, I too began to test the tightness of my bonds, when an idea struck me.

"Hey, I found the sonic screwdriver, just before they caught me..."

The Doctor looked at me quickly, grinning, "Wonderful! Brilliant!"

"It's in my pocket," I continued, "on your side."

He made a rather comical attempt to reach my pocket, wiggling his fingers rapidly as though he was trying to stretch them longer. This failed rapidly, and he subsided, eying my pocket with interest.

"Hang on..." I pushed my hip slightly to the side, trying to bring the pocket closer to his outstretched fingers. The ropes tightened painfully around my knees and I felt my feet start to go numb. I did, however, manage to move about three inches closer to him, and he once more stretched his wrist out as far as it could go, wiggling as he went.

"Ow, here let me try to... ow! Ow ow ow..." I proceeded to try and reach for the thing myself, pushing a couple of fingers into the pocket and making a small noise of triumph as I managed to seize the top of the sonic. I tugged, carefully, and the shiny object shot out and landed straight in the Doctor's outstretched hand. I cheered silently, and he directed the screwdriver at his ropes. A sharp buzzing sound startled me for a moment as his bindings snapped and fell to the floor. He unfortunately fell the rest of the way down, landing very heavily on his undoubtedly numb feet. He swayed dangerously, grabbing hold of his previous prison for support. After a moment, he straightened and turned to face me. He eyes were shining and a small smile played across his lips.

"Your turn..." he murmured, raising the sonic, and a second later my own bonds snapped free and I tumbled down. The Doctor was ready for this, however, and quickly slung one long arm around my waist to steady me. My feet tingled painfully into life as I allowed him to hold me up, and we grinned nervously at each other. The hard part was now to come.

Or so we thought.

The door of our prison cell wasn't locked. It opened at the lightest touch.

I gulped. "Oh crap..."

"Of course..." the Doctor whispered, frowning slightly, "Of course, this is what they wanted all along."

I turned to look at him, feeling a small wave of fear for the first time in a long time. The Doctor looked concerned and I was starting to freak out.

"I wanted us... to escape," he murmured, looking out the door into the dim hallway beyond, "They wanted us side-by-side... The Time Lord and the changeling."

"...er, what?" I croaked, and then he suddenly gripped my wrist, pulling me close until our faces nearly touched. I was shocked at our sudden closeness, opening my mouth to say something but found that sound had completely failed me.

"Hero, what happens next may not go very well," he whispered fiercely, looking into my eyes, "Remember what I said before, remember to run when I tell you, okay? You must run." I nodded slowly, unable to look away from his powerful gaze. Then he relaxed a little, some of the fire leaving his eyes, and he relaxed his hold on my arm. "I'm very protective of all my companions, Hero, they mean a lot to me..." He was still looking into my eyes, only this time his expression was a pleading one, like he was trying very hard to get me to understand something important, "... every single one. But you're... you're a bit different. These aliens, the vengeful DakTar, they've messed around with your lifestream. They've changed everything, prepared you, made you special. They've made you mean something, Hero, they've made you mean something to me." He stopped talking abruptly, like he'd somehow gone too far. I had no idea how to respond to this, but simply looked back at him with wide eyes. I hoped I didn't look like a total fool.

"I don't care what they do to me," the Doctor whispered, "I probably deserve whatever they've got. But using you as a weapon to get to me... That disgusts me." I cringed inwardly at the sea of memories and sad dislike I read in his eyes, making him seem more distant and ancient than ever. After a moment the pain faded away, though, and he gently released my wrist, lowering his eyes to look at his feet.

"Doctor..." I found myself whispering too, even though it seemed that we were still alone for the time being, "I'm not sure what's happened to me, but I realize now that we're alike, we're the same species, and after what you told me about being the last of your kind... We need each other, we both need to survive, okay? So don't pull any superhero stunts and get yourself killed just to save my skin, got it?" Now it was my turn to look fierce. "We'll escape this together."

He nodded, looked slightly encouraged, and took my hand. "Let's see what they have in store for us, Hero Smith the hero," he murmured, smiling at me faintly. I smiled back, and together we turned towards the prison cell door and stepped through.

A second later, the floor fell away beneath our feet and we floated, weightless, in an endless cavern.


	16. The Time Lady Unleashed

**Well, everyone, here is the chapter you've been waiting for, when Hero goes bad-freakin-ass! Hahaha**

**I can't resist adding one final cliff-hanger, however... Hope this chapter is as exciting for you to read as it was for me to write! :)**

**Disclaimer: ... yeah.**

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><p>"Well..." the Doctor managed, his grip on my hand tightening slightly, "this is... unexpected..."<p>

"Hmmm..." I still felt a strange amount of calm as I wiggled my legs absently, contemplating the vast whiteness below us and the vast cavern around and above our heads.

"I hope..." the Doctor began, but was cut off as whatever force was holding us up jerked our bodies up and down as if to get our attention. "Force field," the Doctor gasped, massaging his chest where the pressure had been greatest. I coughed, trying to get my breath back.

"_**WELL, DOCTOR, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF OUR JUSTICE? IS SHE... JUST AS YOU REMEMBERED?**_" This time the metallic voice sounded a bit more sardonic than before, and I frowned slightly.

"Not really, mighty DakTar," the Doctor replied, twisting his head back and forth in search of a speaker, "For one thing, she's a lot bigger than she was before," I snorted quietly as I tried not to laugh. "And, well, she is older and far more experienced than when I sent off into the universe."

There was another of those uncomfortable, grating laugh sounds and the alien continued, "_**DO NOT INSULT OUR INTELLIGENCE, DOCTOR, IT DOESN'T SUIT YOU. THE TIME FOR YOUR SENTENCING HAS COME, AND YOUR... NEWEST COMPANION IS READY FOR OUR PURPOSES. SHE WILL PROVE USEFUL IN YOUR PUNISHMENT.**_"

The Doctor grew agitated, his grip on me still tight and protective, "You will not touch her, she is a member of my species, the Time Lords, and I will not allow you to harm her, do you understand me?"

The alien (aliens?) laughed again, and I felt pressure pressing against me, pulling at our clasped hands.

"No!" I cried, in spite of myself, though perhaps less out of concern for myself and more for the fact that the Doctor was once more getting pulled away from me. With a shout the Doctor twisted himself forcefully in the air towards me, straining with all his strength to reach out his other hand and keep me from moving away. The strain on my hand was painful, now, and I cried out again.

The Doctor met my gaze momentarily, his eyes deep and dark, and then we were yanked completely apart and my hand stung. In the blink of an eye we were hovering some twenty feet from one another, both struggling to get free of the invisible force fields around us.

"_**THE MAN KNOWN AS THE DOCTOR IS ON THIS DAY AND HOUR FOUND GUILTY OF MISUSING HIS POWER AS A TIME LORD BY BREAKING UP OUR EMPIRE AND SCATTERING US TO THE CORNERS OF THE UNIVERSE. HE WILL BE PUNISHED WITH THE MAXIMUM ALLOWANCE DICTATED BY OUR RULES OF HONORABLE JUSTICE. HIS SENTENCE: COMPLETE ISOLATION FROM OTHER LIFE FORMS, FROM HIS LINEAGE, FROM... HIS PEOPLE.**_"

"_No!_" the Doctor cried, and for the first time since I'd first laid eyes on his youthful face I could see real fear and despair written on his features. "Look," he shouted, "you can do whatever you want to me, banish me to the place between spaces, let me not ever see the light again, but please..." His voice broke, and he looked straight at me. My blood ran cold.

"_**THIS IS THE BEST WAY FOR YOUR PUNISHMENT TO BE AFFECTED PERFECTLY. THE **__**CHILD IS THE LAST FEMALE OF YOUR SPECIES, YOUR LAST HOPE FOR REPOPULATION. SHE SHALL BE ELIMINATED.**_"

I couldn't breath. The Doctor shouted something else, his thrashing growing more desperate, but there was a rushing in my ears that prevented me from understanding his words.

"So this is it," I muttered, "this is the final test. Will I die with honor."

"_**REMOVING LIFE FROM A CHILD OF THE TIME LORDS IS NOT AN EASY TASK FOR US, DOCTOR, BUT BELIEVE US WHEN WE SAY THAT WE'VE RESEARCHED THE PROPER METHODS. REGENERATION SHALL BE AVOIDED.**_"

_Regeneration?_

There was a flash of light that came out of nowhere, striking me straight in the chest. I couldn't scream, there was no breath left in me after the collision, but I felt my left-side heart shudder and stop. It felt like a solid lump of lead, thudding dully into death against my lung. I shuddered back in the air; if I had been standing I would have fallen over. Distantly I heard the Doctor's anguished voice calling my name. As a slowly raised a hand to touch the skin that had been hit, time seemed to slow almost to a stop.

Heat.

Blistering heat enveloped my entire body, burning in my chest and my legs and my face...

"What..." I looked down at myself, at my hands, and saw bright streams of light emitting from my skin. Throbs of pure energy and... what sounded like the TARDIS somewhere... pulsed through me, and I raised my head in the slow motion that was my current reality, and looked across the bright white abyss to the Doctor. He looked almost calm, his face composed, his lips parted slightly as he looked at me glowing like I was on fire. He looked deep into my eyes, nodding his head almost imperceptibly, and spoke directly into my mind.

"_Let go, Hero, try and regenerate."_

"_What... what is happening to me? Will I die?"_

"_Let the change happen, it will save your life... Hurry!"_

All at once the heat inside of me exploded tenfold and I screamed, feeling like I was exploding from the inside out with TARDIS energy. As my own internal light nearly blinded me, I found that I wasn't in pain, exactly, but almost like I was being stretched, pulled, from my body. As everything around me and in me pulsed, I saw another bolt of light from whatever the DakTar had used before to shoot me. It arched towards me slowly, time still slipping by at a snail's crawl. In a flash I realized all of it, that I was about to change just like the Doctor had when he was younger, to survive, and that this second bolt of light was going to make sure that process didn't happen, that when I died completely the Doctor's last hope of his species surviving would be gone along with me. He would be utterly and completely alone, and he was about to be forced to watch my death.

Righteous anger rose up inside me, not for the first time in the past few days.

But this time, I had something I could do about it.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" I cried, raising my glowing arms and laughing wildly as pure golden energy shot from them like a laser and deflected the beam coming at me in one smooth movement. Then I waved my arms gracefully around me like I was dancing, casting the glittering energy all around the Doctor and I in an incredible sphere of expanding light.

"_**SHE PASSES! SHE PASSES!**_" came a metallic scream from all around me, and everything when blinding white. I laughed again, fainter this time, feeling some of the energy drain out of me and leaving me feeling weak. Then almost at once, everything went black and I felt the sensation of falling down... down... down... into someone's strong arms, and then into unconsciousness.


	17. Falling and Holding Hands

I could feel myself slowly coming back to consciousness; my eyes were firmly shut, and a deep, sharp throbbing in my head told me that something very heavy had struck the side of my skull. Shifting slightly, keeping my eyes closed, I realized that the something heavy had actually been my own head striking a very hard floor which was still beneath me.

After a moment I opened my eyes slightly, just a crack, and didn't see much of anything, just dark shapes that melted together. My head was throbbing very badly, making my vision twinge and fade from blurry to clear and back to blurry again. _Great... probably a concussion... or worse..._ I sighed and closed my eyes again. The right side of my chest felt really strange, almost weightless, and I realized that my heart there was beating again. It felt... achy.

There was a sound of something stirring next to me, and I turned my head slightly towards the sound. I could hear someone breathing, followed by a gentle touch of hands on my arm and opposite shoulder. Still feeling a bit bleary, I managed to pry my eyelids open once more and beheld what appeared to be the outline of the Doctor bending over me.

There was a pause, and then I heard him fumble around with his jacket and then I quickly shut my eyes again as the bright light of the sonic screwdriver swept over me, emitting a high-pitched whirring sound. There was a flick as the Doctor examined the results; apparently he was checking to make sure I wasn't about to drop dead or something... After a moment, he made a small thoughtful sound to himself, and I saw the glowing light from the sonic through my eyelids as he looked down at me.

"_Look at you..._" he murmured, and I peeked my eyes open a crack. The Doctor was staring straight at me, and he drew back slightly when he realized that I was conscious. "Ah, hello," he said in a regular voice, smiling sweetly at me. His features were outlined starkly in the dim green light from the sonic.

"Erm..." I cleared my throat, my voice feeling a bit rusty from dust or something, "H-hello... What happened?"

The Doctor sat up a bit straighter, still holding the screwdriver aloft over us for light, "Well, we fell into this... dark place." I nearly giggled, since his ability to be descriptive appeared to have failed him.

"Wait, well..." I frowned slightly, trying to remember the events leading up to my unconsciousness, "what happened... to me? Back there?"

"You regenerated," the Doctor replied, looking very pleased, "well, sort of, you started to. Was this your first?"

I stared at him for a moment, then at once began to frantically feel my own body. Same arms, same face, _ouch my head!_, same sides and front...

"Wait, so what happened? Wasn't..." I paused, sort of afraid to continue, "wasn't I supposed to change in someone else? Another face?"

The Doctor smiled at me, patting me gently on the shoulder as if to be comforting and reassuring all at once, "It was your first time to change, so things can sometimes go a little... a little different. Apparently, you used the power growing within you to destroy the DakTar's defenses and to release us, but you didn't change form. Apparently it isn't your time..."

"But... I was dying, right?"

The Doctor started speaking in a musing, thoughtful voice, his thinking voice, which sounded kind of... sexy, "It's very curious, Hero Smith, because I could tell that you were dying, and there seemed nothing left to do for you, but then we fell... quite a ways down! Perhaps the landing was enough to shock your heart into beating properly again."

A thought occurred to me. "Wait... how did you know..."

The Doctor gave me a slightly embarrassed look, "I just knew."

"Ah..." I tried not to giggle, which would have been highly undignified considering I was still laying rather unceremoniously on the cold floor where I'd landed. I still grinned, though, and the Doctor grinned goofily back, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "So, Doctor," I continued, striving to retain some of my dignity, "What happens now?"

"Well," he replied in an excited tone, "Thanks to you being _brilliant_," I blushed, thankful he probably couldn't tell in the faint sonic light, "we have the sonic screwdriver in our possession. Which means we may be able to find an exit or something else pretty cool." He ended with a crooked grin, then without warning he bent over me a bit and scooped me up in his arms like I weighed nothing at all. I mean, I was a lot smaller than him, but it still seemed impressive as my head swirled from the changing position. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, leaning against his chest, as my bruised head decided to give me a painful lecture for sitting up.

Murmuring soft apologies, the Doctor hoisted me into a more comfortable position, clenching the sonic tightly in one hand, and slowly began to move forwards into the darkness. I froze in shock as I felt him plant a gentle kiss on my forehead before he raised his head to get a better view of our surroundings.

"Yes, yes, this is very promising," he said aloud, talking to no one in particular and completely oblivious to my nervous gulp and trembling hands. Unsure of what to think, and feeling my cheeks grow warm as a part of my mind hoped he didn't kiss _all_ the girls' foreheads, I settled against him a bit more and strained my eyes ahead into the darkened cavern. I could feel his silly bow tie tickling the top of my head, and I smiled quietly to myself, feeling my eyelids grow heavy.

* * *

><p>"... plated metal is very curious because of it's thinness. Remarkable..."<p>

"Hrm?" I managed, dragging my eyes open as the Doctor seemed to continue his self-rambling to the general air around us. I blinked and then gasped as I realized that we were once more in one of the metal-lined tunnels from before, when I'd first began looking for the Doctor on my own. So did that mean... the DakTar had simply let us go?

"Ah, you're awake," the Doctor chirped, clearly in a good mood, "This passages are brilliant, don't you think?"

I chuckled, happy to discover that my head was feeling a bit better. "Wait... Doctor, have you really been carrying me all this time? I'm sorry..."

"Not to worry, you're exceedingly small so it was no trouble," he replied, like he was shushing a fussy child.

"Um... thanks..." I suppressed another giggle as I imagined a dwarfed version of myself being carried like a doll by a gigantic Doctor...

Without a warning, a large door slid open in front of us, and warm golden light spilled out towards us. We both perked up at this sight, and with a few long strides the Doctor brought us right up to the doorway so that we could peer through.

"And where did the two of you get th' idea that we _like _thinkin' you're dead?" cried an indignant female voice, and we beheld Amy Pond in all her ginger wrath. Though I thought I saw her lip tremble slightly and her arms relax with relief at the sight of the Doctor and I. Rory stood nearby, arms folded across his chest in what I hoped was supposed to be an annoyed pose, but it mostly came across as relieved as well.

"Amelia Pond!" the Doctor cried, and for a brief second I thought he might fling his arms wide towards them and throw me aside in the process, "Rory the Roman!" I grinned at the two people before who were doing their best to look stern and failing horribly.

"Aw, come here you two..." Amy relented, opening her arms and quickly enfolding the Doctor and I in a bone-crushing hug. The Doctor clearly liked getting hugs, so he returned the gesture with enthusiasm until I flailed from being nearly squished to death between them. Rory stepped closer, clapping a hand on the Doctor's shoulder and smiling at the pair of us.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, noting that the Doctor had still not set me down on my own two feet.

"I'm okay, I think..." I smiled at him.

"She's more than fine," the Doctor added, and I heard pride in his voice, "she's... _brilliant_." Boy, he really liked that word. And oh goodness, I was blushing again...

"Great," Rory smiled back, and helped me set myself down firmly on the ground. I felt a bit unsteady, but between three very helpful people I had no problem staying upright. "You'll have to tell us everything, like how you're both alive..."

"...and what happened to Hero," Amy added, checking me up and down for large amounts of blood, apparently.

"...and how you, Doctor, managed to get a full pardon," Rory finished, and the Doctor and I looked at each other.

"Well..." the Doctor trailed off, looking slightly puzzled but happy all at the same time, "I'm not really sure, to be perfectly honest, but I have a hunch it was something Hero did."

"Those... aliens... the DakTar? Yeah, they made the announcement about half an hour ago," Amy explained, pulling us bodily further into what turned out to be Damon's cavern. A large group of green-faced aliens stood nearby, apparently waiting for us.

"Yes... It's time for a good talk," the Doctor replied, and I felt him quietly slip his hand into mine. Not sure whether anyone else had seen or not, I found that I didn't care, and I snuck a side-long smile at him. He smiled shyly back.


	18. Some Good Advice

**Thank you readers for any corrections you suggest, such as the name of the Chameleon Arch and the color of the 11th Doctor's sonic screwdriver! I really appreciate your feedback, and I always make the corrections when they are needed. Thanks for helping me keep my writing, for the most part, as true-to-plot as possible. :)**

**So things are starting to wind down... Or are they? And should I continue Hero's adventures with the Doctor in this same story, or should I begin a sequel soon? What do you think? Let me know in the comments section!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Waaaaaa lol**

**P.S.: the watch photo on my profile is actually what I think of when I picture Hero's silver pocket watch... Enjoy :)**

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><p>"So, what exactly has happened since we got separated?" I asked, glancing from Amy to Rory and back again. The Doctor and I had just finished a brief account of what I'd had to do to rescue the Doctor, and then how he'd carried me to safety. Everyone's mouths had hung open slightly when I'd mentioned that I was now apparently a Time Lord, a very young one, and I had displayed my broken pocket watch. I couldn't help but smile, however, when Amy and Rory had recovered from their shock rather quickly (they seemed used to this sort of thing), and had both jumped on me and hugged me nearly to death. "You brought him back to us," Amy had whispered in my ear, and she gave me an extra squeeze. Rory had simply patted me on the back as be hugged me, then briefly met my eyes before pulling away. His gaze told me what he was feeling, and I smiled back gently.<p>

And now, Damon, Amy and Rory, the Doctor and I, and several other of Damon's people were seated in a circle around one of the encampment's fire pits. Now that I was no longer on my feet, I felt distinctly grateful for the hard wooden stool I was perched on since my head had started to spin a bit. Clearly I would need some serious rest later.

"You disappeared down the other side of the corridor," Rory began, sitting up a bit straighter, "and when we tried to follow you that... rat thing..." "urg..." Amy added, looking faintly disgusted, "yeah, um," Rory went on, "It kind of charged at us properly, all bitey teeth and claws, and... well..." He paused, looking rather pleased with himself.

"We kicked its arse," Amy finished calmly, smiling demurely at us all.

I grinned, glad to hear they hadn't been hurt or anything. "Awesome! So, what happened next?"

"We decided that it would be best to retrace our steps back to Damon's cave," Amy replied, nodding to the alien leader, "He was able to let us back in, and kept us from freakin' out because we didn't know what had happened to you..." The thin trace of residual fear in her eyes told me quite a lot; she and Rory had felt responsible for me, and I'd been taken away. Kind of how I'd felt when the Doctor had been spirited away from us by the DakTar, except I don't think that Amy felt like... _Never mind..._

"So, why exactly are the DakTar so eager to release me now?" the Doctor asked Damon, looking serious, "They were so consumed with justice and for punishing me for protecting another race from them many centuries ago... What could possibly be going through their minds?" While my mind latched onto his use of the word "centuries," the Doctor's gaze remained fixed on his friend Damon's. The alien had a ghost of a smile on his face, and he nodded very faintly at the Doctor as if he were answering an unspoken question.

The Doctor's eyes grew wide. "Ah... I see..."

"Wait, what is it?" Rory asked, clearly just as confused as I was.

Smirking, the Doctor replied, "They lost their own game, it seems; they set up their best rituals, designed to punish me, hoping that at least one of them wouldn't be completed. But they were, and so according to their honor laws they had to acknowledge that their punishment, keeping me alone for all eternity, would be impossible."

Even though I'd heard every word, the meaning made my mind go a bit blank. "What?" I managed, feeling myself go a bit cold.

"Three rituals," the Doctor repeated, not meeting my gaze, "one which reveals the true nature of things, one to prove resourcefulness and daring, and one which – if survived – would prove the searcher's worth."

Amy and Rory's mouths opened into identical "oh"s as they realized what the Doctor was implying. The tests had been for me, and me alone; somehow, the DakTar had been aware of my true nature, and were intent on waving in front of the Doctor like a prize before snuffing me out.

"The DakTar's own rules of punishment," Damon added, "allowed for one mercy, much like how many planets grant the accused representation in court. The DakTar seem to have a rule which allows for one member of the perpetrator's species to prove themselves as capable of rehabilitating the accused. Which means," he chuckled, looking at me, "one of your party, Doctor, is now fully responsible for your behavior in the future. At least, according to DakTar law..."

We all laughed at that, and I caught the Doctor's eye, finally, and began, "Well, then..." The look he gave me was intense and deeply vulnerable all at once, and I nearly lost my train of thought. After a split second, and unsure whether anyone else had noticed, I continued, murmuring, "I'll do my best..."

* * *

><p>"I think it's time for us to go home, Doctor..."<p>

The four of us were once more on the bridge of the TARDIS, feeling the time machine vibrate beneath our feet as we headed away from the planet below. Rory stood with his arm around Amy, and they both smiled at the Doctor. He smiled back, though a bit sadly, and replied, "Of course, you're married now, you can't spend all your days running around with me, doing crazy things..."

"Ah now, Doctor," Amy reassured him, smiling fondly and patting him on the arm, "we'll be sure to visit again soon, okay? That's always a promise."

"Yeah," Rory added, "we just need to get some things in order and... perhaps next time we'll stay with you longer, hm?"

"I would be delighted," the Doctor said, holding out his arms to the pair of humans before him and enveloping them in one of this signature bear hugs. If he could have lifted them both at once and spun them around, I'm pretty sure he would have.

After a quiet moment, the three of them stepped apart, and Amy briefly met my eyes, her own a little misty. "Well..." she stated, and then the Doctor moved towards the control panel in the center of the room and began flicking switches and pulling levers here and there.

"Off we go!" he cried, smiling for real this time as the TARDIS hummed into full life and we began the spin slightly as we sped off towards Earth once more. Turning back to Amy and Rory, the Doctor asked, "The usual?"

"Yup, three days," Amy relied, laughing a little, "easiest amount of time to explain away to friends, nosy relatives..." I laughed, realizing that she was talking about how much time the TARDIS needed to give them to be gone on this crazy adventure of ours.

"I'll go get our stuff," Rory said, and he hurried from the control room as the Doctor revolved around the flashing lights and spinning wheels, moving around to the far side of the panel from where Amy and I were standing.

"So, um," Amy whispered, and I realized what she was going to ask right before she did, "Will you be... going home... as well? Let the Doctor take you back? Or..." The word she trailed off made me suddenly hope for something hadn't let myself think before this moment.

"What, you mean stay with him? Travel the galaxy? Be a... companion?"

"She smiled knowingly at me, then murmured, "Oh come on, I know he's a bit thick in this area, but perhaps you're something _more_ than the usual companion at this point, know what I mean?" She raised her eyebrows at me, but my poor stubborn mind wasn't letting me understand just yet. I shook my head.

She sighed, grinning at me, "You're a bit alike, you and him, both Time Lords, both good at making the best of everything, who knows..." I suddenly understood what she was getting at, and I blushed, smiling in spite of myself.

"So... you've noticed? Was I that obvious? God..."

"No! No..." Amy looked quite serious as she finished, "_He_ was. He doesn't hold hands with just _anybody, _you know..." I blushed more, looking down at my feet. Goodness, I was 22 years old, _well, to be honest I may be much older than that,_ but I my insides were all melting together like I was still 13 and finding out that a boy had a crush on me. I managed to meet Amy's eyes once more, and smiled as Rory came tumbling back into the control room, backpack in hand.

"_Think about it, hm?_" Amy whispered to me, winking very subtlety, and then she turned to her husband and acted as if nothing odd had been said.


	19. I Confront the Vortex

**Aaaaaaand to finish, fish fingers! ;)**

**Just kidding, here we are dear readers at what is the end of my first double-length episode with Hero the Time Lady... Please don't be sad, even though I am, because this part of the story was so much fun to write! Never fear, my poor brain has so many ideas and words already crammed into it that I will most likely begin the next part of the story tomorrow! Or tonight... or right now... whatever...**

**Anywho, I felt that it would be best for me to sort of both tie things up _and_ ****get things started for what's to come. I realize now that I never got to those super-romantic scenes that you were possibly hoping for, but don't worry, they're on their way! I hope you have enjoyed this first section in Hero's story as much as i have enjoyed writing it, and as always thank you for your kind reviews, suggestions, and thoughtful words.**

**GERONIMO! (from the Doctor) and Hell Yeah! (from Hero)**

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><p>The Doctor and I leaned out of the TARDIS door as Amy and Rory offered us one final wave before disappearing into their little English cottage. The painted blue door clicked behind them, and the Doctor smiled after them before returning inside the time machine.<p>

The Doctor twirled over to the center console, coat spinning around him, and pushed a couple of shiny buttons. Then he slowed his movements, making an extra effort to look closely at his screen as though he was trying to make time slow down.

"So..." I stepped up across the circular panel from him, examining his face. Despite his cheerful movements, I realized that he looked very sober, almost sad, and like he was trying and failing to hide it. Then, after a moment, he raised his face to meet my eyes, and he smiled sweetly across the miriad levers and buttons.

"So..." he replied, and as I returned his smile, his own grew wider.

"What happens next?" I asked, moving a bit closer.

"Hero Smith the hero..." He paused, his soft blue eyes growing serious again as he regarded me. "Oh there is so much for you," he mused, "Every moment you learn more and more about who you are, you experience things so new and wonderful..." I stared at him, a bit unsure of what to say. "If you like, I can take you home, back to your old life, but... it will be difficult for you. You're a Time Lord."

"I want... I want to wait a while before... before I go back," I stammered, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks a little, "I mean, there's so much I don't know about myself, like who my parents were, and how old I am, and whether my name is really Hero..."

The Doctor moved in closer to me, raising his hand to shush me, "You're name shall always be Hero, for that is what you are." He smiled, raising one eyebrow, and I nearly laughed. "Now," he began, speaking in a no-nonsense tone although his eyes continued to sparkle at me mischievously, "you're very young, only about 87 if my memory is correct, and it usually does," I stifled a gasp, then smacked him on the arm when he winked at me.

"Young? Oh please..." I couldn't help but grin and I added, "well, how old are you, then?"

The Doctor stopped smiling at once and looked at me with such a noble and ancient gaze that I sobered at once. "I am nine hundred and twelve years old, and in my eleventh regeneration. There. What do you think of that?" He completely ruined his serious composure by laughing like a boy and whirling around the TARDIS console. I gaped at him for a few seconds as he fiddled with some knobs, then shrugged.

"Alright then," I replied, "so you're nearly as old as the millennium. Okay. So, what else you got?"

"Oh Hero..." He drew close to me, much closer than before, and he very gently laid his hand on mine where it rested on the console, "Oh Hero Hero Hero there are so many wonderful things, so many beautiful things, the life of a Time Lord can be lonely and terrible and tragic but oh... when you're not alone, when you can see the beauty of the universe unfolding before you... It makes life worth living. And you," he murmured, "you're just at the beginning, you haven't even seen the Time Vortex yet, you haven't gotten a chance to fly the TARDIS, aren't you just... _excited?_" He grinned at me, nearly shaking with what seemed to be happiness for me, and I grinned back, feeling a warm thread of happiness spreading through me.

"Yes!" I cried, and hugged him.

"No matter what happens, Hero Smith," he murmured into my ear, "be kind to yourself." We moved apart, and his eyes were infinitely sad, the centuries of loneliness and pain and loss all spread out before me. I realized that I could see more of him now that I was in my true form, and it scared and exhilarated me all at the same time. I bit my lip as I realized how much the Doctor, this poor ancient-young-lonely-brilliant alien, needed me. He needed someone who could travel with him not just as a passing friend, but as his peer, his equal.

"Where do I start?" I mumbled, not even sure I'd truly spoken.

This gave him pause, and I felt him withdraw his emotions from me a bit, like he was covering his true self up again. He frowned slightly, thinking.

"Every young Time Lord is, was, required to look into the Time Vortex, the whole of space and time itself, to see how they would take it." He regarded me carefully, his hand still on mine, "Even the strongest youngsters, faced with such power in front of them, have gone completely mad at the sight. But most, most were able to stare into the face of existence itself and come away... enlightened."

"Enlightened... how?" I asked.

"If you're able to withstand the vortex," the Doctor continued, "you'll activate your mind in such a way that will allow you to see multiple temporal possibilities at once, to fly the TARDIS, to become a full-fledged Time Lord."

I thought for a moment, then said, very quietly, "So, the risk is that I'll... lose my mind?"

"Yes." He looked very grave.

"And if I'm able to take it, I'll be like you?"

He smiled, "Well, yes, in a few hundred years..." I giggled, and he added, "No, really, you'll be like... like me." Suddenly I saw a flicker of something in his deep eyes, something like hope. It burned from him, yet I could sense that he was attempting to keep himself neutral, keeping himself from pushing me into a decision.

He needed me.

And, like many others before me, when I realized that the Doctor needed me to take the risk, I decided to take it then and there.

"I'd like to look into the Vortex."

As if my words had commanded it, a section of the TARDIS console shifted aside, revealing a blinding light from which the Doctor quickly looked away. Words failed me as I looked towards where it was, not able to see directly into it's source but still blinded all the same.

"Hero!" The Doctor grabbed hold of both my arms, turning me to face him, "Are you sure? Because if you lose yourself in the Vortex, I won't be able to help you. I..." His voice broke, and he briefly lowered his eyes. He raised them again a second later, looking fierce, "I won't be able to take that happening, so you have to be sure."

I nodded, my throat too tight for words and my hearts hammering in my chest, like a horse galloping. Without a word, he released me, but bent close and gently kissed my forehead, like a benediction. I smiled unashamedly at him, turned back to the console, and...

… looked.

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><p><em>Everyone, everything, every place was spinning before me, the raw power of the universe piercing into my very soul. I could feel the unending pulse of Time, the jagged edges of countless planets and species and languages and numbers... I was spinning in a spiral of white and rainbow and blue-tinged lightning, tears streaming from me into the core of existence, and I realized that I could see the reason for things, the purpose of all objects in the universe, the rushing tide of love and hate constantly battering against one another. Life and death blurred together until I couldn't tell whether an infant crying was about to take its last breath or if an old man staggering to his feet was breathing his first. Every possible emotion, every unthinkable moment of pain and joy and sorrow and wonder played out before my eyes, every war and hug and cry and laugh.<em>

_Everything._

_And then, walking across the expanse of nameless color and light, came a tall slender man in a suit and red bow tie. His angular face broke into a smile when he saw me, light streaming from my fingertips, tears of pure emotion on my face, and he raised a hand out to me, saying, "Welcome, Hero, I'm the Doctor. And you're ready to meet the universe."_

_I realized that I was holding on, that I was managing to cling to enough of myself to recognize my name, to feel my hearts flutter as his fingertips touched mine, to reply, "A doctor, hm? I've been needing one of those... What do you say we get out of here and do something... cool."_

_And thus began my new life as a Time Lady named Hero._

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><p><em><em>**The end! For now! Like I said, I'm literally about to start the next story as I write this sign-off, so please don't go away! More to come :)**

**With love, SilverTortoise**


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